Lecture 1

The Good
 ‘What is the good for human beings?’
–What is it that we are aiming at?
–What would provide a successful, fulfilling, good life?

 Good: the purpose for which we do things, the point of doing them
–Some activities (making drugs, diagnosis) are done for the sake of others
(health) Is there some end for whose sake we do everything else?

Eudaimonia
 The good for a human life
–‘Happiness’
–‘living well and faring well’: flourishing
Eudaimonia vs. Happiness
–Eudaimonia is not a state of mind, but relates to the activity of living
–It is not subjective, but objective
–It is not easily changed, but relates to a life as a whole

What is eudaimonia?
 Not pleasure: animals share in this, but there is more to a human life
 Not wealth: money is a means to an end
 Honour? But what do you want to be honoured for?
 The virtues? Not just having them, but exercising them. What about being
virtuous but very unfortunate?

Final ends
 Final end: an end that we desire for its own sake, not for some further
purpose
 Is there just one ‘final end’? Is eudaimonia or anything else our only good?
Some final ends, e.g. pleasure, knowledge, we seek both for their own sake
and for the sake of something else, - eudaimonia
–These other final ends are constituent parts of eudaimonia
 But only eudaimonia we seek for its own sake and no other purpose

Reason and Virtue

 Aristotle argues that we are distinctively rational creatures, and so
eudaimonia consists in living in accordance with reason
 Virtues are traits of mind or character that enable us to do this

Philosophy
 Theoretical reason – the contemplation of truth
– is the ‘highest’ activity of human beings
 Eudaimonia must include excellence in this activity, which is philosophy
 This activity is best because theoretical reason is the best thing in us, and
what we most are. With it, we contemplate what is best (the greatest, most
wonderful and most divine things in the universe)

Philosophy
 We are able to undertake this activity more continuously than any other
activity, so it leads to the most continuously happy life
 Its pleasures are most pure and enduring, unlike pleasures of the body.
 It is the most self-sufficient activity. Nothing further arises from it (it is
knowledge for its own sake), and we need fewer external goods for this than
for any other virtuous activity.
 Being human

 While we should strive to live a life of philosophy, we require more than

this:
–We have bodies, desires, emotions and live with others
–Philosophy is not sufficient for eudaimonia, we also need the virtues

 For all this, we require some external goods (health, wealth, good fortune)

Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia is a combination of the prefix eu (which means good, or well),
and daimon (which means spirit) (Moore, 2021). Together eu and daimon often
is translated to mean "human striving or the best good" (Tedechi, et al. 2018).

Eudaimonia is “an activity of soul in conformity with excellence or virtue”

(Haidt, 2006). Eudaimonia views life through a wide-angled lens, striving for
purpose and deeper fulfillment, even when those strivings travel through
momentary discomforts. Eudaimonia is effort directed towards full development of
our potential.

Todd B. Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener provided several examples

of eudaimonia in their wonderful book The Upside of Your Down Side.
"Eudaimonic activity is volunteering time to help somebody else, persevering at a
valued goal in the face of obstacles, expressing gratitude to somebody who has
been helpful, and striving for excellence in the development and use of one’s
talents..." (2015, location 2798).

For Aristotle, eudaimonia was the state of flourishing, or living well. A state

that requires living a life in accordance with virtue. 

Psychology literature considers Aristotle's definition of eudaimonia. The term

means, joy, self-actualization, fully developed person, or fully integrated adult.

Lecture 2:

https://www.slideshare.net/johanautio/aristotelian-virtue-ethics