Happiness has been a significant concern among the folks throughout the ages. Everyone has their own meaning of happiness but oftentimes, those ideas don’t lead us to happiness. In unfortunate circumstances, those thoughts lead us to the unhappiness. According to the research, there exist more than 450 terms for happiness that have no direct translation. Among them, one of the important terms is eudaimonia, which mean pure spirit or good spirit. Aristotle considers this word so essential that he wrote his own seminal work Nicomachean ethics to address the issue of how humans could achieve it. 2600 years later, his work remains the most influential theory.
What is happiness according to Aristotle?
According to Aristotle, happiness is not only a subjective emotion. According to him, happiness is an objective state, closer to the postulation of flourishing. He argues that, if we want to be happy, then we have to live our lives according to the function of human nature. He states that the key to real happiness is to perceive through the proper exercise of practical and conceptual reason. Some of the Aristotle guidelines are given below that we all must pursue in order to achieve happiness:
We must have intelligence and scientific knowledge.
Friendship and generosity are the two most essential things in human nature.
We all should reflect our eternal truths.
We all should have lots of courage, and we must maintain it all the time, no matter what the situation is.
The value of material goods
According to Aristotle, in order to be happy one must meet two mandatory conditions that are given below.
You have to be completely virtuous.
You have to be equipped with external goods.
The importance of controlling our vices
“Pleasure is understood through the functioning if animals”, this is the definition of happiness according to Aristotle. The good life that we all want is not characterized by sex and money; these things are the secondary theme is Nicomachean ethics. Aristotle says that such pleasures lead us to the bad act and lack of self-control, so to be happy we have to learn to control our vices, no matter how much discomfort or pain we are getting during this procedure because it is the only way to achieve long term happiness.
Aristotle teaching on 21st-century happiness
Try to take satisfaction in good deeds
A good person is defined by his good characters, such as kindness, generosity, etc. Aristotle told that to use these traits in making good decisions. Sacrificing your own comfort for the good of others will give you real pleasure.
Spend more time in thinking and learning
Contemplation is the highest virtue which souls can aspire. Aristotle considers that philosophical thinking is the activity that we all should do because this will result in proper happiness because after that we can experience complete happiness.
Take inspiration from good people
Noble human beings demonstrate the virtue of character and intelligence, so whenever you are facing any problem, we should go to them for the right guidance.