Saturday, February 11, 2012

Aristotle and Happiness


What is the best way to bring happiness to oneself?  Aristotle seemed to advocate a life solely devoted to personal reflection and deep thinking.  Yet complete focus in just area of human experience seems limited for Aristotle, more so when you consider that he believed that life needed to be lived by the means of lifestyles.  Aristotle probably wanted a balance between self-thought, pleasure, and honor and politics.  Experiences in one of the above mentioned lifestyles could help bring better satisfaction or understanding in the other areas.  For example: seeing how people interact in politics might help you better understand human nature and yourself. It seems so unlikely that Aristotle would have expected people to live fulfilling and examined lives if they didn’t experience the world.

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