Aristotle’s

Eudaimonia Virtue
Theory
MAS
Rev: April 2022

Crash Course Philosophy #38:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrvtOWEXDIQ & https://youtu.be/PrvtOWEXDIQ
 Introduction to 3 Part rd

Course Objectives:
• Self awareness (who am I & my potentials)
• Life Goals (who I want to be)
• The path, the habits and the values to achieve life goals.
Course’s three parts:
1. The self awareness (entrepreneur/creative/leader; multiple
intelligences & emotional intelligence; Thinking & Lateral thinking.)
2. The path to achieve life goals (personal victories, Proactivity with
Allah’s four gifts; Relationships & Time Management
3. Awareness of real “goals of life” – “the true north”
 Success Vs Happiness
• Success is all the money in the world; Happiness is having people to
spend it on.
• Success is measurable;  Happiness is limitless. 
• Success is a fancy car;  Happiness is a great ride. 
• Success is working hard;  Happiness is loving the work.

• Happiness is the goal that makes other life goals — like success,

prosperity and relationships — feel meaningful and enjoyable.

• Happiness, in part at least, is the fruit of desire and ability to sacrifice

what we want now for what we want eventually. (Covey: Overview; Pp56)
 Happiness/Well-being and Virtues in Plato and Aristotle
Introduction

• Socrates 470 to 399BC; a tutor who wrote nothing but taught Plato
• Plato 428 to 347BC; who reported and developed Socratic views.
• Aristotle 387 to 324 BC; building on and responding to both Socrates and Plato

• The Greeks were systematic philosophers – the study of ethics involved

addressing some key themes in:
• the philosophy of mind and action (moral psychology);
• metaphysics and epistemology (human nature); and
• philosophical methodology.
 Happiness/Well-being and Virtues in Plato and Aristotle:
Aristotle’s preliminary argument on Eudaimonia 1

1. All acts/choices/desires aim at some good (Socratic assumption?)

2. Two types of goods, means and ends, those 'for the sake of which' are more ultimate
than those done for sake of others
3. We do not choose everything for the sake of something else -- in each action there is
always an ultimate good for sake of which an act is done (else “a” for the sake of
“b” reasoning would go on to infinity)
4. If there is some one-end of all the things we do, some single ultimate good, then
clearly this must be “the good” and “the chief good”;
5. If there is one chief good, then 'knowledge of it will have a great influence on life ....
6. There is general agreement that the highest of all goods achievable by action is
eudaimonia (happiness/well-being/flourishing life)
 Some Goods Better than Others

Aristotle begins by considering all the

disagreements about what is best of all the goods:
pleasure, honor, love, wealth, fame, glory, etc.

He uses a distinction between instrumental and

intrinsic goods to find the best, highest good.

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 Instrumental and Intrinsic Good

Instrumental good = something good as a means

to something else …

 Having a tan? Good for getting a date

 Having a date? Good for falling in love
 Being in love? Good for its own sake (intrinsically),
and for happiness (as a means to happiness)
 Being happy? Good for its own sake, and as a
means to ………….. ????????......... NOTHING.

7
 The Highest Good
It seems that happiness is not desired for anything other than
itself. It is intrinsically desirable but not instrumentally.

Is that true of anything else? Let us try out …

• Honor? Good for its own sake, but also as a means to happiness.
• Fame? Good for its own sake, but also as a means to happiness.

Happiness, then, seems to be the highest good for humans.

We desire it for its own sake, but never, seemingly, for

anything else.

It seems self-sufficient. 8
 Human Nature
The Instrumental/Intrinsic good distinction led Aristotle to
conclude that the good for humans is happiness. He, however,
employed another method for identifying the good of something

Aristotle says that the good of a thing is its unique function:

 the good of the eye is seeing, and it’s a good eye if it sees well
 the good of a pen is writing, and it’s a good pen if it writes well
Aristotle then asks, what is the good of human beings?
 the good of a human is reason, and it’s a good human if it
reasons well.
Humans are rational animals (common definition of humans in
ancient Greece).
9
A thing is good to the extent that it fulfils its
function, and bad to the extent that it doesn’t.

The same goes for humans

 We are animals
 So all the stuff that would indicate proper
functioning for an animal holds true for us
as well
 We need to grow, be healthy and fertile.
 Definition of Happiness
We have seen that
 THE GOOD is happiness (most desired), and
 THE GOOD is reasoning well (by analogical argument)
Aristotle produces his definition of happiness from those 2 lines of reasoning
(since happiness and reasoning well must somehow be the same):
HAPPINESS = REASONING WELL
In Aristotle’s own words: HAPPINESS = an activity of the soul (reasoning) in
conformity with virtue (reasoning well)
So,
 happiness is NOT a feeling
 happiness is NOT a condition or state of mind
 happiness is NOT desire-satisfaction (getting what you want)
 happiness is NOT something you can receive
11
 Virtue  Happiness

Aristotle, in his Nichomachean Ethics says:

Since happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance

with perfect virtue, we must consider the nature of
virtue; we shall then, perhaps, see better the nature of
happiness.

So, let’s look! …

12
 Intellectual Virtues

For Humans this “work” is reason (we are rational animals), composed of

 theoretical wisdom (sophia) All 5 are

 intellectual
scientific reasoning (episteme, greek; scientia, latin), and “virtues”
 intuitive understanding (nous) NOT moral
 practical wisdom/practical reason, prudence (phronesis) virtues
 craft knowledge, skill, art (techne)

Note that, though tradition calls these kinds of reasoning ‘virtues’ they are not, or
not all of them, virtues strictly speaking?

13
We are what we
repeatedly do.
Excellence is not an
act, but a habit
Imagine a person who:
 Always knows what to say
 Can diffuse a tense situation
 Delivers tough news gracefully
 Is confident without being arrogant
 Is brave but not reckless
 Is generous but never extravagant
If we can just focus on being Good persons,
the right actions will follow effortlessly
We are also “Rational Animal”
And a “Social Animal”
So our function also involves using “Reason”
And getting along with our “Pack”
 Moral Virtues
(And One Intellectual Virtue - Temperance)
Aristotle identifies 11 moral virtues, all governed by one
intellectual virtue: prudence — good deliberation

1) Courage 6) Right ambition

2) Temperance 7) Good temper
3) Generosity 8) Friendliness
4) Magnificence (generosity 9) Truthfulness
with wealth) 10) Wit/Humour
5) Magnanimity (proper pride) 11) Justice

All except Justice are a “mean” between extremes

18
 The things that we love tell us
what we are
Thomas Aquinas

Nature has built into us the desire to be virtuous,

just as a seed has built into it to become a tree.
 What does Having Virtue mean?

Having Virtue means

 Doing the “Right thing”
 At the “Right Time”
 In the “Right Way”
 In the “Right Amount”
 Toward the “Right People”

Does it sound vague? … Really ???

There is no need to be “specific”. Because if you are
“virtuous”, you know what to do, all the time and in all
situations.

You know how to handle yourself and how to get along

with others.

You have good judgement. You can assess a situation and

you know “what is right”, and “when”.
Coming back from a movie you see an old
lady being mugged. What should you do?
A courageous person would run over there
and stop the mugging. Because courage
means putting yourself in harm’s way for a
good cause. Right?
 Taking stock of
“The Situation”
 Sizing up
The Situation
You definitely can have too much of a
“Good Thing”
A COURAGEOUS PERSON WILL ASSESS THE
SITUATION, HE WILL KNOW HIS OWN ABILITIES AND
HE WILL TAKE ACTION THAT IS RIGHT IN THAT
PARTICULAR SITUATION
PART OF HAVING COURAGE IS BEING ABLE TO RECOGNIZE
WHEN, RATHER THAN STEPPING IN, YOU NEED TO FIND
AN AUTHORITY WHO CAN HANDLE A SITUATION THAT IS
TOO BIG FOR YOU TO TACKLE ALONE.
Courage is Finding the “Right Way” to act
“Honesty” also means “knowing how” to deliver
“hard truths” gracefully.
How to break bad news gently.
How to offer criticism gently – in a constructive way
that does not hurt.
IT IS NOT GENEROUS TO GIVE DRUGS TO AN ADDICT.
OR TO GIVE ALL YOUR WEALTH TO CHARITY, WHEN
YOU NEED TO PAY THE RENT.
• According to Aristotle:

• Your “character” is developed through

“habituation”.

• If you do a “virtuous” thing over and over

again, it will become part of your “character”.
How to know what is the “right thing to do?

• By finding “exemplars/role models” who

already possess moral virtues. By watching
them and copying them and emulating them.
• In the beginning, you may feel fake, but with
time it will become part of you, part of your
character.
• The “virtue” becomes effortless and a part of
you.
 Why become “virtuous”?
• Because it takes you to “the pinnacle of
humanity”.
• It allows you to achieve “Eudaimonia” – a
good life, a happy life, a flourishing life.
• And for us, as a muslim, a life leading to
“Jannah”
 EUDAIMONIA
Does not have a simple English translation:

A good life, a life well lived, a happy life,

a successful life
A life of human flourishing, of human excellence
• Living an “Eudaimonic life” means constant struggle,
constant striving; You are never done improving;
Never say this is it. It will mean disappointments,
failures, even heart breaks.
• But when you are in bed and review, you will have an
immense satisfaction that you have accomplished a
lot, that you have tried and have pushed yourself to
be “the best person you could be”.

For Aristotle “morality” is leading a virtuous life:

honing your strengths and overcoming your
weaknesses
 Aristotle’s Eudaimonia – Take-aways

• Happiness is an intrinsic (not instrumental) Good

• Happiness = Goodness (Reasoning well)
• Happiness is an activity of the soul
• Concept of virtues – intellectual and moral
• 11 moral virtues: 10 of them to be exercised in moderation
• Virtue exercised in extremes (too much or too little) becomes a
vice
• Virtues become your character by Habituation.
 Tal Ben-Shahar: Positive Psychology: The Science of
Happiness (upto 1:36:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB8Usl6aX2I

https://drive.google.com/a/iobm.edu.pk/file/d/1qm0GgG5pNutP
hkNRS7-ZrNu-87MKvEME/view?usp=sharing
Thank You
Aristotle’s Triple Filter Test
O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some
suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one
another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead
brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear
Allah. Verily, Allah is the One Who accepts repentance, Most
Merciful.
Surah 49 Al-Hujurat Ayah 12
 Happiness
 ‫ين آ َمنُوا ِإن تَتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ يَ ْج َعل لَّ ُك ْم فُ ْرقَانًا َويُ َكفِّ ْر‬ َ ‫يَا َأيُّهَا الَّ ِذ‬
‫ َعن ُك ْم َسيَِّئاتِ ُك ْم َويَ ْغفِ ْر لَ ُك ْم‬ ۗ
 ‫ض ِل ْال َع ِظ ِيم‬ ْ َ‫ َواللَّـهُ ُذو ْالف‬ 
O you who believe,
If you obey and fear Allah, He will give you discrimination
(between right and wrong) ,
and overlook your sins, and forgive you. Allah is of Infinite Bounty
(8 Al-Anfaal, Ayah 29)
 Success
ْ ‫ُأ‬
ۖ ‫ت ۗ َوِإنَّ َما تُ َوفَّ ْو َن جُو َركـ ْم يَ ْو َم القِيَا َم ِة‬
ُ ‫و‬
ْ ‫م‬ ْ
ِ َ ُ‫س َذاِئقَة‬
‫ال‬ ٍ ْ
‫ف‬ َ ‫ن‬ ُّ‫ل‬ ُ
‫ك‬
َۗ ‫ار َوُأ ْد ِخ َل ْال َجنَّةَ فَقَ ْد فَاز‬
ِ َّ ‫ن‬ ‫ال‬ ‫ن‬ ِ ‫ع‬َ ‫ح‬ َ ‫ز‬
ِ ْ
‫ح‬ ُ
‫ز‬ ‫فَ َمن‬
‫ُور‬
ِ ‫ر‬ ‫غ‬ ُ ْ
‫ال‬ ُ
‫ع‬ ‫ا‬َ ‫ت‬ ‫م‬ ‫اَّل‬
َ ‫َ ِإ‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ي‬ ْ
‫ن‬ ‫د‬ ُّ ‫ال‬ ُ ‫ة‬ ‫ا‬ ْ
َ َ ‫َو َما‬
‫ي‬ ‫ح‬ ‫ال‬
Everyone is bound to taste death and you shall receive your full
reward on the Day of Resurrection.
Then, whoever is spared the Fire and is admitted to Paradise has
indeed been successful.
And the life of this world is but the joy of delusion.
(Surah Alay-Imran, Ayah 185)
 Happiness

ْ َ‫ين آ َمنُوا َوت‬

‫ط َمِئ ُّن قُلُوبُهُم بِ ِذ ْك ِر اللَّـ ِه‬ َ ‫الَّ ِذ‬ ۗ 
ُ ُ‫ط َمِئ ُّن ْالقُل‬
‫وب‬ ْ َ‫َأاَل بِ ِذ ْك ِر اللَّـ ِه ت‬ 

Those who believe and find peace in their hearts from the
remembrance of Allah;
Pay heed! Only in the remembrance of Allah there is peace of
heart!“
(13 Al-Raad, Ayah 28)