Contemporary Moral Problems by James E. White Chapter 1: Aristotle(Happiness and Virtue)

In this part of the chapter the Author shared Aristotle’s essay. Aristotle made important
contributions to all areas of philosophy. He was the pupil of Plato who was also a great philosopher.
Aristotle was one of the founders of western philosophy. I think that having this background he would be
able to share a lot of interesting theories and insights about ethics. Since most of the time morality is used
as a basis for something being ethical or not I think that a person who knows a lot about morality would
be able to share some important theories and insights about ethics. The topics discussed in this chapter
were happiness and virtue. According to Aristotle happiness is not pleasure or wealth but an activity of
the soul in accordance with virtue. Pleasure will only bring happiness for a short period but its
consequence will last longer. An example is drugs or sex. People think that if they have the most pleasure
they become happy but the truth is pleasure brings misery. Pleasure can only bring true happiness when
it is done in moderation or at a reasonable time. I think that this is true because if a person is virtuous
then that person’s conscience is clean and with a clean conscience a person can be happy. Virtue
according to Aristotle is a balance or a habit of doing the right thing. I agree with Aristotle’s perception of
virtue. I think that a person is virtuous if that person maintains a balance in his life. Making a habit of
doing the right thing will also bring happiness to a person.