Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Aristotle
Aristotle teaches that some of what constitutes happiness comes from good luck, although much of it comes from hard work, the practice of virtue and the deliberate improvement of character. What do you think about happiness? Is Aristotle right? Is it tied to character? Relatedly, Aristotle says that you can't really be happy if you are too poor or too disabled, without enough to eat or friends to share your life with. What do you say about that?
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I believe happiness is something you create. Happiness is different for people, because it depends on what you like. Character is a part of the person and how they react to situations. The character of a person can tell you a great deal about a person. I think Aristotle is right that happiness is tied to character because how you achieve your happiness will depend your character. I think those people are the most happy because they do not have all of the material possessions to disturb their happiness. They can focus on getting what they actually need not what will make them seem better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Casey that happiness is something that we create. There are things that make some people happy that would not make me happy. My character decides what will make me happy. How we react to situation depends on what makes us happy. Someone could react very excited about a situation because it makes them really happy, when another person doesn't really seem that excited about it because it doesn't make them that happy.
DeleteI mainly agree with parts of Aristotle’s teachings, happiness is a frame of mind and is easily effected by how we interpret different events. For example, if someone were to wake up in the morning and decided that their day was going to be good or bad they would alter their interpretation of the day’s events to meet their original assessment. This coincides with Aristotle’s ideal of practicing virtues and working hard to appreciate what has been given to us in our lives. We can only learn to be happy after we have mastered gratitude. The idea of luck may play some role on short term happiness but in the long run we can never be happy if we can never be satisfied with what we have. This is where I disagree with Aristotle, I think it is possible to achieve happiness even under the circumstances of being poor without surplus food or friends. As long as the individual’s biological needs for nourishment are being met, we can learn to become content and eventually develop happiness.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I agree with what Aristotle is teaching because I see elements of this that still exist today. I believe happiness is something that can be experienced at any moment and can disappear instantly. With Aristotle I can see how it can be tied to character because everyone is unique in their own way and find happiness in their own way. For instance one could find happiness when they go to school while another could find happiness as soon as school is over. I want to say one could find happiness even if they are poor and disabled but honestly it depends on the person and how they can deal with that adversity. Not everybody can honestly say that they could find happiness with some of the factors or adversities.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the ending question about what we think about him saying that you cannot be happy if you are too poor or disabled, don't have enough to eat or friends to share your life with, I disagree. When reading this blog prompt question I immediately thought of multiple people I met on the border studies trip that we stayed with. I can't explain what itr was because it doesn't make sense to me. Many of them are here with very little or no money at all and have come here completely alone but are the happiest people I have ever met. They were so thankful for the littlest things and so happy just be their. Some people may need those thing to be happy, but others clearly do not. There was a lady who cane here because her family members were being killed off and she has no one her or there left (that she knew of) and could not bring items with her and had no money. Her spirit and her attitude were so high and positive. I am still confused on how she was as happy as she was.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aristotle in the sense that happiness is based on hard work and a person's character. If you are constantly striving for happiness and giving your very best then I think you will receive your silver lining. A person can be happy where ever he or she may feel comfortable and content. if a person is comfortable and happy and content being homeless and on their own then who are we to judge? I'm doing clinical hours for my Education major at a school that sits in an area in a low socio economic class. Many of my students are very poor but don't seem to be disheartened by it in the least bit because being poor and being happy while being poor is all they have ever known. Everyone around them is poor as well so they have nothing else to compare to. Now I'm not saying that I don't want to take every single one of these children home every week and feed them and spoil them rotten, but they are perfectly happy just the same. It's in a person's character if they chose to be happy or not even in the worst of situations.
ReplyDeleteI think happiness is based upon the way we interpret events that happen to us in our lives. I do think happiness is based upon how hard somebody works and what type of character a person posses inside them. Every time somebody works as hard as they can to achieve something, and when it finally works we see there happiness come about. I do not believe that people that are poor or disabled do not experience happiness. I come from a city of very low income and I see people all the time been happy because they are surrounded by people who share in their hardship. They see that people can still be happy even if they are living in a lifestyle that is just meant to survive.
ReplyDeleteI believe each of us has our own sense of happiness and it is completely individualized, I would disagree with Aristotle to a point when it comes to needing some form of wealth to be happy i can say from personal experience that when things were so much more tough i was happier to just be alive that the fact that maybe we had not eaten that day was irrelevant but i do agree with him at least for myself that you need other people to be happy. Having that support system to lean on was all that got me through the rough times in my family's life. If i had not had my sister or my group of close friends i definitely would agree that i would have been unhappy and extremely unhealthy. It is amazing what moral can do for your health.
ReplyDeleteI think that happiness ranges from person to person. The hardest working person can be less happy than the laziest person. Happiness stems from our goals. If we set goals and accomplish them or at least try to accomplish them some happiness can be achieved. I think Aristotle is right to a degree but ultimately it all comes down to the persons character. Virtues aren't directly linked to happiness, criminals are pretty content with themselves and their action and as long as they think they are improving their character they will stay that way. I totally disagree with Aristotle's claim that the poor and disabled are incapable of feeling happiness. These people can be just as happy or happier than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteHappiness definitely ranges from person to person, as Tyler stated. If each person has a set of goals that they wish to achieve, more than likely that individual will succeed in achieving those. Everyone's happiness is completely based on their own personal experiences. A person is in charge of his/her own happiness. Only they can determine weather or not to be happy. I agree with Aristotle that happiness does depend slightly on your character.
ReplyDeleteOf course your character, and the improvement of such, can lead to happiness.
ReplyDeleteyour character is who you are, it decides what CAN make you happy, and the improvement of oneself, does often brings feelings of fulfillment or general happiness.
while I agree that these things, food, money, and friends can bring happiness, I do not believe that their absence means one cannot be happy.
I do believe that being poor, or hungry, or lonely, can make it harder to be happy, in that those feelings can overwhelm feelings of might be happiness, but that doesn't mean you can't be happy.
there is always someone out there, with less than you have, and is happier than you will ever be, and things like that, just prove that their is more to happiness than we think.
happiness is relative and different for every person. I think that a lot of what makes us happy is determined by our character. I do believe in luck, both good and bad. Luck determines what sorts of random things happen to us, but it is how we deal with those things, both good and bad, that determines our character. I do not agree that you can't really be happy if you are too poor or too disabled because happiness is relative. Money cannot necessarily buy happiness, although it makes life much easier which can make you much happier. I do agree that without enough to eat or friends to share your life with, that you cannot be happy. If you are always starving, you can resort back to an animalistic tendency in order to attain the food you need to survive. Getting that food will not result in your happiness as you are only satisfying an absolute need. Without friends, you have nothing to share your life with. Most of being happy is surrounding yourself with people to share your life with and be surrounded by positivity and laughter. Most everyone's happiest moments are with one or more of their close friends.
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