Eudaimonia, a Greek translation to the word “Happiness”, was understood by

Aristotle in a different way than how most of us interpret it as the superficial meaning

of “being happy”. Rather than a simple state of emotion, Aristotle think “Happiness”

is a “Telos” that every human being is naturally born to pursue at. And to have

something become the “Happiness”, it can never be limited by anything else, while all

other decisions in one’s life should be guided by it. And just by happiness itself, it can

make one’s life lacking nothing. Thus, an activity that has an end is the highest human

good. The “good” is happiness. However, it then comes to an ambiguity that why

does Aristotle distinguish happiness from other goods which may be necessary for a

happy life? To begin with this question we must make it clear on that are we including

happiness as one of the good that are parallel to things like honor, money, or

pleasure? From my perspective, happiness should be something independent of the

“good”, as mentioned before, Aristotle consider happiness to be the very ultimate goal

of human, that every other thing is serving for the purpose of reach to “happiness”,

thus “happiness” has this very special property that makes it superior to all other

“goods”. In addition, when people purpose for happiness, they do what they consider

something “good” to achieve it, but they don’t realize those “goods” can lead them to

some other end. Aristotle says that people are likely to mistake interests with

happiness; However, happiness is governed by living according to the appropriate

virtues.

Why is happiness different from other goods necessary for a happy life?
 Aristotle approaches the question of happiness in various different ways. To

begin with, Aristotle touches on the bourgeoning for animals and plants. They have in

their well-functioning in accordance to their natures, which needs human beings to

think on their peculiar or proper functioning. According to Aristotle (1954), humans'

proper functioning consists of their reason and doing things according to reason,

which is the doctrine heart of virtue, both intellectual and moral. In regard to

reasoning, we are guided to the conclusion that having and exercising intellectual and

moral virtue is what is important in living well.

The other approach that Aristotle relies on is the survey of goods that human

beings always desire. By the fact that happiness is assumed to consist in the

achievement of some goods in that having them one attains a good living. The goods

may be; external in the form of wealth and power among others, in the body in the

form of having good health and physical strength, and goods of the soul which are in

the form of knowledge, virtue, artistic creativity, and life projects, among others.

However, the problem comes in delineating the kind of goods related to happiness.

According to Aristotle (1954), such goods like health are preconditions needed for

happiness, and others like wealth and honor are accompaniments in promoting or

filling out a life that is good for someone virtuous but the goods of the soul are

possessing and exercising the virtue in which the core element constituting it is

happiness.

It is only a virtuous person who is able to attain happiness, and someone virtuous

can never be unhappy in the most profound sense, even at a time of misfortune that
might appear to make them unhappy. Therefore, happiness brings together elements

over which people can easily control, the virtue, with elements over which people

cannot easily control, wealth. Aristotle (1954) says, “We can do fine actions even if

we do not rule earth and sea; for even from moderate resources we can do the actions

that accord with virtue.” Aristotle (1954) argues that prosperity and external goods

and enhance the happiness of a person. He encourages people to keep restrain in

practice when in chase of pleasure. Accumulating material prosperity is a must for

any human being to ensure that they have good health and are able to get a strong

foundation from which they pursue and anticipate virtue in daily life. If one does not

have wealth, they may not have the ability to be happy because they are only occupied

with their way of survival, but people should accumulate personal wealth as much as

is useful practically.

The meaning of happiness.

For instance, virtue is a disposition, not an activity. This means that someone

who is virtuous is naturally disposed to behaving in the right way and for the right

reason and feeling the pleasure to behave in the right way. Aristotle (1954) argues that

virtue is a mean state between deficiency and overindulgences of excess, meaning that

it varies to people, and therefore there are no fast or hard rules on avoiding a vice in

the best way. This that people do voluntarily is worthy of praise or blame. A

voluntary action is out of choice and deliberation, in which the person doing it

governs the action’s best course through reasoning on the best ways in achieving

desirable ends.
 One of the moral virtues that Aristotle explains together with the

corresponding vice in explaining the meaning of happiness is courage, which involves

being courageous when faced with fear. However, people have conceptions for

happiness which we can say does not match with true happiness, generally because

they are deficient in virtue. We know that virtue is the disposition to behave in the

right way, which is taught to everyone from a young age. For instance, someone with

the virtue of courage is confident when facing fear, but at the same time, they will

think of having courage as a good thing. Thus behaving courageously will, in turn,

make them happy, which becomes their part of their happy life. On the other hand,

someone who has not been brought up well and displays cowardice vice is likely to

avoid danger in which they find happiness, and this will lead them to have an

unsatisfactory view of the good life.

Aristotle describes that through practice purposefully, one can effectively

attain virtue virtues and therefore become happy; he says, “The virtues arise in us

neither by nature nor against nature. Rather, we are by nature able to acquire them,

and we are completed through habit” (Aristotle, 1954). Happiness is not something

that is naturally bestowed in human beings; it is not even something that can be

mismatched with humanity. But instead, it is an activity that gives consideration to the

ultimate goal of someone to constantly practice that activity. It requires an individual

to be perseverant, vigilant, and have a proper mindset so as to have this kind of view

to happiness. This means that to achieve the feeling of happiness and possess it

forever, one must work tirelessly to attain happiness each day.

life of human beings because its benefits are likely to change depending on context.

Aristotle says, “Honor, pleasure, understanding, and every virtue we certainly choose

because of themselves since we would choose each of them even if it had no further

result; but we also choose them for the sake of happiness, supposing that through

them we shall be happy” (Aristotle,1954). However, the benefits of true happiness

do not change because they are not based on context. Arguably, people must embrace

pleasure with a lot of moderation, integrity, and virtuous intent to achieve happiness

in life. Otherwise, people may not make any move to a given sense of completeness

or goal, but they are simply getting distracted.

Conclusion.

Conclusively, happiness is something beyond temporary distraction,

excitement, or pleasure. However, people may feel happy during times of pleasure,

but they may not fully practice happiness because the things that are involved in

excitements are not profoundly related to the virtue of achieving human ability.

Aristotle recognizes the amusement’s occasional necessity, but at the same time, he

gives a caution against making any mistake of diverting to for true happiness. The

never-ending hunt of shifting to true happiness can only be achieved through a

significant cost to an individual, who may feel that they are not fully satisfied in their

pursuit.