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Christian Torres

05/13/15

Aristotle and the Morality of Self-realization


Eudaemonism a word which is not commonly used in modern times had special meaning to
ancient philosophers. One such philosopher that used this word extensively in his teachings was
a former pupil of Plato. This pupil whose name was Aristotle had a falling out with his teacher
due to many intellectual differences. The problems between these two Philosophers may have
also stemmed from Plato choosing a family member of his over Aristotle to run his school. These
shortcomings could have caused other up and coming intellectuals from continuing their
education but not Aristotle. These setbacks only strengthened his resolve and molded him into
one of the greatest and most famous philosophers of all time.
The word eudaemonia which if broken down the eu meaning good and the daemon meaning
spirits, together roughly translates into good spirits. This ancient Greek word can then come to
mean happiness or well-being within the English lexicon. According to Aristotle in order to reach
such happiness one must be intellectually and politically active. This well-being is well-doing
approach would later be adopted by modern philosophers such as John Stuart Mill in his own
theory of utilitarianism.
Unlike Plato, Aristotle rejected the idea of the realm of forms and instead led a more practical
school of thought. For Aristotle everything was about practice and becoming better as well as
more active in order to achieve ones desires. He also rejected Platos belief that there is a
preconceived capacity within the human mind. Aristotle believed that a persons mental capacity
could only be reached and filled through practice and struggle. For what is virtue? Virtue is

excellence of some sort, in most cases moral excellence. Virtue is also a trade in character for
which you are supposed to be admired. Keeping all this in mind since happiness and virtue are
activities which should be practiced it is according to Aristotle quite impossible for children to be
virtuous because they have not reached such mental heights through the struggle of the intellect.
This struggle after all comes from ones own life experience and to be a child is to have too little
to none of these prerequisites.
According to Aristotle this virtue not only comes from ones own experience but also from
watching others failures and triumphs and learning from them. This kind of thinking separates
intelligent men from the truly wise men in the world. For a fool may touch a hot coal and despite
pain continue touching it. While an intelligent man may touch the same coal and because of the
pain never touch it again. Mean while a wise man will watch the other two men and decide that
the coal is too hot to handle therefore not touch it at all. This exercise on watching others live are
very important in helping us understand how ought to live.
On the topic of the soul Aristotle believed that humans have a rational soul. This kind of soul is
able to use reason in order to direct human action. This kind of action is in contrast to an animal
soul which is based solely on instinctual actions. This also applies to plants which according to
Aristotle have a vegetative soul as opposed to an animals sensitive soul. Humans have a trinity
of soul which includes the vegetative, sensitive, and rational portions. In order to fully
understand each facet of the human soul we must fist describe their functions. The vegetative
part of the soul regulates sleep and the subconscious of ones mental state. While the sensitive
portion of the soul regulates feelings and natural instincts. One could also say that this part of the
soul regulates automatic reactions to stimuli in the everyday world. In addition to these aspects

the rational part of the human soul functions as the great organizer of the other two portions
through its power of reason.
So to reinforce Aristotles idea of happiness and virtue one must look towards his teleological
view of the world. The Greek word from which teleological comes from is telos which means
a goal to be achieved. These may not necessarily be human in nature for example a bear would
have a telos to find food for her offspring. While a vine may have a telos to grow in such a
way in order to receive nourishment from the suns rays through its photosynthetic autotrophic
cells. According to Aristotle even non living things such as a wave of water has a telos to hit a
shore on a regular basis. On the subject of human beings Aristotle believed that our telos is to
find happiness and virtue.
The telos which leads to our virtues and ends with edaemonia or happiness is the reason why
people look for success through wealth and fame. There is also a purer and deeper purpose which
is to find intellectual achievement. This achievement could be sought through practice and use of
moral virtues such as wisdom, justice, temperance, and courage. For a morally right person
always makes the right call.

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