Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics and the Good Life To answer the question, "Are we living the good life?," necessary reflection must be made on two things: first, what standard could be used to define 'the good life?' Second, how can the standard serve as a guide toward living the good life in the midst of scientific progress and technological advancement? In the documentary film, The Magician's Twin: C. S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism, C. S. Lewis posited that "science must be guided by some ethical basis that is not dictated by science itself." One such ethical basis is Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322 BC, is probably the most important ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. He was a student of Plato, who was then a student of Socrates. Together, they were considered CICERO & the 'Big Three of Greek Philosophy.' History Beyond The Texthas The Big Three Greeks Socrates teaches Plato. Plato teaches Aristotle. Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, the Plato helped to lay the fundamental basis of Aristotelian ethics, foundation for philosophy. rhetoric and logic through consists of ten books. Originally, they were his Socratic Dialogues. lecture notes written on scrolls when he taught at the Lyceum. It is widely believed that the lecture notes were compiled by or Socrates left no writings Aristotle passed on what were dedicated to one of Aristotle's sons, of his own. It was his he had learned from Plato students, such as Plat to his own students, Nichomacus. Alternatively, it is believed who would write his including Alexander the words down for future Great. Alexander spread that the work was dedicated to Aristotle's generations. this knowledge through his CICERO & 2007 conquests. father who was of the same name. https:/www.pinterest.ph/pin/380906080974528583/ The Nichomachean Ethics abbreviated as NE or sometimes En based on Latin version of the name, is a treatise on the natureof moral life and human happiness based on the unique essence of human nature. The NE is particularly useful in defining what the good life is. Everyone has a definition of what good is---getting a college degree, traveling across the world, succeeding in a business venture, pursuing a healthy and active lifestyle, or being a responsible parent. However, although everyone aims to achieve that which is good, Aristotle posited two types of good. In NE Book 2 Chapter 2, (NE 2:2), Aristotle explained that every action aims at some good. However, some actions aim at an instrumental good while some aim at an intrinsic good. He made it clear that the ultimate good is better than the instrumental good for the latter is good as a means to achieving something else or some other end while the former is good in itself https://reasonandmeaning.com/2013/12/19/aristotle-on-the-good-and-meaningful-life/Eudaimonia: The Ultimate Good What then is the ultimate good? Based on the contrast between two types of good, one could reect on some potential candidates for the ultimate good. One might think that pleasure is the ultimate good. One aims for pleasure in the food they eat or in the experiences they immerse themselves into. Yet, while pleasure is an important human need, it cannot be the ultimate good. First, it is transitory-nit passes. One may have been pleased with the food they had for lunch, but he or she will be hungry again or will want something else after a while. Second, pleasure does not encompasses all aspects of life. One may be pleased with an opportunity to travel but that may not make him or her feel good about leaving, say, his or her studies or the relationship he or she has been struggling with. Others might think that wealth is a potential candidate for the ultimate good, but a critique of wealth would prove otherwise. Indeed, many, if not most, aim to be nancially stable, to be rich, or to be able to afford a luxurious life. However, it is very common to hear people say that they aim to be wealthy insofar as it would help them achieve some other goals. Elsewhere, it is also common to hear stories about people who have become very wealthy but remain, by and large, unhappy with the lives they lead. In this sense, wealth is just an intermediate good---that is, only instrumental. It is not the ultimate good because it is not self-sufficient and does not stop one from aiming for some other 'greater' good. Another candidate for the ultimate good isfame and honor. Many people today seem to be motivated by a desire to be known---to be famous. Others strive for honor and recognition. This is reected by those people who use social media to acquire large virtual following on the internet and wish to gain a foothold on the benefits that fame brings. Many people act according to how they think they will be admired and appreciated by other people. However, these cannot constitute the ultimate good, simply because they are based on the perception of others. Fame and honor can never be good in themselves. If one's denition of the good life is being popular or respected, then the good life becomes elusive since it is based on the subjective views of others. Unlike pleasure, wealth, fame, and honor, happiness is the ultimate good. In the Aristotelian sense, happiness is "living well and doing well\" (NE 1:4). Among the Greeks, this is known as eudaimonia, from the root words ea, meaning good, and daimon, meaning spirit. Combining the root words, eudaimonia means happiness or welfare. More accurately, others translate it as human ourishing or prosperity. Aristotle proposed two hallmarks of eudaimonia, namely virtue and excellence (NE 1:7). Thus, happiness in the sense of eudaimonia has to be distinguished from merely living good. Eudaimonia transcends all aspects of life for it is about living well and doing will in whatever one does. Eudaimonia: Uniquely Human? Eudaimonia or happiness is unique to humans for it is a uniquely human function. It is achieved only through a rationally directed life. Aritotle's notion of a tripartite soul as summarized in Table 1 illustrates a nested hierarchy of the functions and activities of the soul. The degrees and functions of the soul are nested, such that the one which has a higher degree of soul has all of the lower degrees. Thus, on the nutritive degree, all living things, i.e., plants, animals, and humans, require nourishment and have the ability to reproduce. On the sensitive degree, only animals and humans have the ability to move and perceive. Finally, on the rational degree, only humans are capable of theoretical and practical functions. Following this, humans possess the nutritive, sensitive, and rational degrees of the soul. More importantly, only humans are capable of a life guided by reason. Because this is so, happiness, too, is a uniquely human function for it can only be achieved through a rationally directive life. ANIMALS Sensitive (Partly ratlonal) Locomotion Perception Table 1. Aristotle's Tripartite Soul Arte and Human Happiness Eudaimonia is what denes the good life. To live a good life is to live a happy life. For Aristotle, eudaimonia is only possible by living a life of virtue. Arwte, a Greek term, is defined as \"excellence of any kind\" and can also mean \"moral virtue.\" Avirtue is what makes one function well. Aristotle suggested two types qf virtue: intellectual and moral virtue. Intellectual virtue or virtue of thought is achieved through education, time, and experience. Key intellectual virtues are wisdom, which guides ethical behavior, and understanding, which is gained from scientic endeavors and contemplation. Wisdom and understanding are achieved through formal and non-formal means. Intellectual virtues are acquired through self-taught knowledge and skills as much as those knowledge and skills taught and learned in formal institutions. Mora! virtue or virtue of character is achieved through habitual practice. Some key moral virtues are generosity, temperance, and courage. Aristotle explained that although the capacity for intellectual virtue is innate, it is brought into completion only by practice. It is by repeatedly being unselsh that one develops the virtue of generosity. It is by repeatedly resisting and foregoing inviting opportunity that one develops the virtue of temperance. It is by repeatedly exhibiting the proper action and emotional response in the face of danger that one develops the virtue of courage. By and large, moral virtue is like a skill. A skill is acquired only through repeated practice. Everyone is capable of learning how to play the guitar because everyone has an innate capacity for intellectual virtue, but not everyone acquires it because only those who devote time and practice develop the skill of playing the instrument. If only learns that eating too much fatty foods is bad for the health, he or she has to make it a habit to stay away from this type of food because health contributes to living well and doing well. If one believes too much use of social media is detrimental to human relationships and productivity, he or she must regulate his or her use of social media and deliberately spend more time with friends, and family, and work than in virtual platform. If one understands the enormous damage to the environment that plastic materials bring, he or she must repeatedly forego the next plastic item he or she could do away with. Good relationship dynamics and a healthy environment contribute to one's wellness, in how he or she lives and what he or she does. Both intellectual virtue and moral virtue should be in accordance with reason to achieve eudaimonia. Indifference with these virtues, for reasons that are only for one's convenience, pleasure, or satisfaction, leads humans away from eudaimonia. A virtue is ruined by any excess and deciency in how one lives and acts. A balance between two extremes is a requisite of virtue. This balance is a mean of excess not in the sense of a geometric or arithmetic average. Instead, it is a mean relative to the person, circumstances, and the right emotional response in every experience (NE 2:2; 2:6). Consider the virtue of courage. Courage was earlier defined as displaying the right action and emotional response in the face of danger. The virtue of courage is ruined by an excess of the needed emotional and proper action to address a particular situation. A person who does not properly assess the danger and is totally without fear may develop the vice of foolhardiness or rashness. Also, courage is ruined by a deciency of the needed emotion and proper action. When one overthinks of a looming danger, that he or she becomes too fearful and incapable of acting on the problem, he or she develops the vice of cowardice. What then is the good life? Putting everything in perspective, the good life in the sense of eudaimonia is the state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous in the way one thinks, lives, and acts. The path to the good life consists of the virtues of thought and character, which are relative mediators between the two extremes of excess and deciency. In this way, the good life is understood as happiness brought about by living a virtuous life. One could draw parallels between moving toward the good life and moving toward further progress and development in science and technology. In appraising the goodness of the next medical procedure, the social media trend, the latest mobile device, or the upcoming technology for food safety, one must be guided by Aristotelian virtues. Science and technology can be ruined by under or overappreciation of the scope and functions it plays in the pursuit of the uniquely human experience of happiness. Refusing science and technology altogether to improve human life is as problematic as allowing it to entirely dictate reason and action without any regard for ethical and moral standards. By imposing on science and technology an ethical standard that is not dictated by itself, as (2.8. Lewis proposed, not onlywill scientic advancement and technological development ourish, but also the human person. Assignment: Field Study Instructions: As a take-home task, inspect the packaging of a food item that you regularly consume. Cut the part of the packaging that shows the nutritional label and paste it on the space below. What sugar, disguised in an unfamiliar term, is found on the label? Research on the denition and effects of the hidden sugar you found on the label. [Paste the label here.] Hidden Sugar Found on the Label Description