ArgeL’s Blog

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Aristotle believed virtues led to happiness. The happiness that Aristotle spoke of was not
necessarily the same that we would think of today. Today our view of happiness tends to be hedonic. We
want to feel good immediately and tend not to think too far ahead. So we see a night out or a pleasant
activity as a route to happiness. The ancient Greeks had a very different perspective on happiness.
Aristotle spoke about achieving eudaimonia, which is roughly translated into happiness. Eudaimonia is
not an emotional state; it is more about being all that you can, fulfilling your potential. The idea is that by
living in a way that reaches your full potential you bloom or flourish and so display the best version of you
that you can be. Aristotle thought that the practice of virtues would equate to happiness, in the sense of
being all you could be. By virtues, Aristotle meant the act of achieving balance and moderation. For
example, courage would be the balance and moderation between excessive amounts, rashness and
insufficient amounts, cowardice. Generosity would be the mid-ground between being a wasteful
spendthrift and being a miser.He strongly disagreed with Socrates who knowledge would automatically
lead to the right action. Aristotle argued that the greatest misdeed was to know the right course, but fail to
do it……