Happiness Versus Pleasure - Essay Example

Even though ‘pleasure’ and ‘happiness’ are sometimes used interchangeably, they are completely different in their meanings. Pleasure is something momentary that is achieved by doing something external, like having a good meal, having fun with friends or playing sports. Happiness, on the other hand, is internally unbound by momentary pleasures. A person may have to feel temporary pleasures but he can only achieve happiness if he feels internally satisfied and content with his daily life (Paul, 2006).

Aristotle was one of the earliest people to define what virtues actually stand for. According to Aristotle, the virtues are actually a balance between two vices which could also be called the extremes of those virtues. The balance point between the two vices is called the golden mean which may lie in the middle, or near to one of the extremes. There are eleven virtues as defined by Aristotle each of which is supposed to lie between two vices. According to Aristotle, courage is a virtue bound by the two extremes of rashness and cowardice (IEP, 2005).

For example, a person is a coward if he cannot stand up for his own rights or rash if he is too reckless with his effort to stand up against the authority. Courage is the virtue that lies between these two extremes and the person is courageous if he keeps his emotions in check and does not become too reckless in his struggle.