Great Works of Western Philosophy - Essay Example

Great Works of Western Philosophy Aristotle’s notion of function Aristotle composed Nichomachean Ethics in order to discover the human good towards which we should aim in life. Aristotle refers to this conception of ‘good’ with various connotations such as happiness, well-being, flourishing and so on. However, there is a considerable amount of variation in how people conceive of the term ‘happiness’. Aristotle suggests that in order to come to a clearer and distinct conception of happiness, it is first important to ascertain the function of a human being. Aristotle precisely states that “for all things that have a function or activity, the good and the ‘well’ is thought to reside in the function.” Therefore, it is the human good which keeps the function the soul performs in accordance with virtue. The key points in Aristotle’s concept of function include the following arguments in brief: Happiness is the activity that our soul performs in accordance with virtue. Virtue is considered as the most excellent performance of one’s function. It is the function of human being to involve in exercise of his active intellect. It is the virtue of human being to exercise his active intellect in the best possible manner. The notion of contemplation comes from the exercise of the active intellect of human being in the best possible manner. Therefore, the happiness of human being lies in contemplation. Aristotle argues that everything has a function or activity to perform. Further, based on this argument, he states that everything that has a function has a virtue as well. Therefore, it is the virtue of the thing that enables it to perform its function well. The basic function of the soul, as argued by Aristotle is to take care of things, rule and deliberate, and so on. Because, these are the activities one cannot perform without the soul. Again, the soul can perform well only when it has the virtue associated with its function. In this way, a good soul performs, takes care of things, and in general, lives a good life. This is where the conception of happiness comes into being. Therefore, the conception of happiness is mainly derived from the good functions performed by the soul while performing them all well with the nature of virtue. When the soul performs its function virtuously, then the soul becomes associated with justice. That means the just soul performs well and, therefore, lives well. That is how the soul is blessed with happiness. Whereas a bad soul does just the opposite of what a good soul does. In that sense, the bad or the unjust soul performs as well as lives badly and so is wretched. This is what Aristotle describes as the definition of the notion of happiness. In the process of his argumentation, Aristotle wants to identify happiness with virtuous activities performed by the soul. A happy man will have a pleasant life. However, pleasure is not the only good thing that happens to a happy man. In simple words, a happy man will share both a pleasant as well as virtuous life. When the notion of happiness is introduced, Aristotle proposes his view of ‘understanding’ (or relational activity) as the central good of man. Before claiming the aim of doing something good, it is important to determine what is thought to be good by the doer or actor. In this context, Aristotle talks of actions that are intentional and even deliberate. Aristotle argues that for any given activity, there has to be a final end at which the action is ultimately aiming. Without that premise, the action is “empty and vain”. At the same time, there is one final end at which all activities aim. That means every activity has the same final end, and this is called the conclusion. So in a nutshell, every activity has a premise as well as a conclusion. With regard to identifying with the type of such an ‘end’, Aristotle suggests a particular end from which we can find an ongoing way of doing things. It is not the end, which we simply can reach and done there. What Aristotle means as the final end is the virtuous way of performing activities by our soul, which is an ongoing state of activities. Living a happy life means it is the continuation of performing actions well and virtuously by our soul, and staying happy. To live well is to be happy; the good life is the happy life. In simple terms, Aristotle suggests that the concept of happiness consists of getting or achieving whatever we aim at. But in this context, the definition of happiness may differ from person to person. But Aristotle talks about something beyond that difference of opinions. Aristotle argues that the ultimate definition of happiness contains some essential properties of the term, the basic properties of the notion of happiness that we all conceive in common. However, Aristotle’s notion of function is not free of criticism. One of the most relevant aspects is the very definition of happiness. Aristotle identifies happiness with the virtuous activities performed well by our soul. However, it is not clear if virtue can lead us to happiness. We cannot be sure if having a virtuous and pleasant life will make us happy. Moreover, virtue and pleasure are two different aspects, which may or may not get along well. Aristotle does not make any clear distinction between the two. Therefore, it is not clear whether a virtuous life can bring us pleasure and vice versa. Living a virtuous life does not guarantee us happiness, while at the same time, pleasure is also not the equivalent of happiness. Secondly, the function of a human being is also in question. It is not clear in the argument as to why the good for a human being should reside in the good performance of the human function. Even if we assume that a human being who performs the human function well is a good human being, we are still not sure if that good performance makes him happy. Moreover, the functions are varied as different individuals would like to conceive them in different manners. The goodness resided in the performance of the function of one human being does not ensure that the same goodness will be established for another human being too. Because, the conception of goodness as well as happiness is different from individual to individual. In this way, the function of a human being is also subject to variations depending on different individuals. Therefore, the notion of the function of human being as defined by Aristotle cannot be accepted without investing adequate amount of rationalistic analysis on it. It is true and agreed by all that happiness is something we all desire to reach. The notion of contemplation comes when we accomplish our desires and goals. But it is not clear whether that contemplation comes from the exercise of the basic function of human being. Maybe, by following Aristotle, we can preferably assume that there is a common function to all human beings. Even in that context, we cannot accept that happiness comes from the practice of the common human function. However, we can at least agree, almost unanimously that happiness can be a part of virtue even though happiness does not necessarily have to include virtue. Nonetheless, Aristotle’s notion of function and happiness does make us think and ponder over the deep philosophical thoughts, and also allow our mind to reason the two notions. Reference: Cahn, Steven M. Classics of Western Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2002. Read More