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Last Updated: 2022-11-11
All human beings by nature seek to flourish both in insight and in action — we reach out both to know the world and to live well. No one in human history has thought more deeply about both forms of flourishing than Aristotle.
Aristotle's wisdom in these matters runs deep, rooted in the biocentric conception of mind and life he developed by founding the sciences of logic and biology. Indeed, he held that living things are the most natural of things, and that human beings are the most natural of living beings.
Aliveness (ψυχή) is a continuum. All living things have needs (ἐπιθυμίαι) for sunlight, water, warmth, nutrition, reproduction, homeostasis, and the like. Animals, because they have perception and movement, not only have needs but also wants (θυμοί) and thus seek to gain what appears to them beneficial or good (ἀγαθός); they not only live, but have a way of life (βίος). Humans, because we have reason and speech and a sense of the future, not only have underlying needs and immediate wants, but we also generate wishes (βούλησεις), form preferences (αἵρεσεις), make commitments (προαίρεσεις), and take action (πράξις) structured under the aegis of a long-term goal (τέλος); we can succeed in both reflection (εὐβουλία) and conduct (εὐπραξία); we can not only live, but live well (εὐδαιμονία).
Living well is a continuum, too. There are many ways to miss the mark (ἁμαρτία) in life and only a few ways to hit it.
Some people are from birth so lacking in forethought and other basic human capacities (δύναμεις) that sadly they lead a kind of animal existence (although such a state can also be induced by a brutal upbringing such as that imposed in ancient times by the Scythians).
Others, altogether the worst, fall so far short of their human potential that they descend into corruption (μοχθηρία) and thus choose purposes that are unworthy (φαῦλος), take actions that are harmful or bad (κακός), and act for reasons that are repulsively wrong (αίσχρός).
Somewhat better are those who wish for what is good but whose thoughts and actions can be warped by harmful or excessive desires and pleasures, so that they act impulsively or experience weakness of the will (ἀκρασία); they might function well in many areas of life but miss the mark in areas where they cannot resist temptation (e.g., they might be unfaithful spouses, heavy drinkers, social climbers, or shallow materialists).
The more decent sort of human being experiences the same kind of desires and pleasures, but is able to overcome them through force of will, and thus to act with self-control (ἐγκράτεια).
Altogether good (ἀγαθός) are those who activate (ἐνεργεῖν) the highest human capacities (δύναμεις), achieve personal excellence (ἀρετή), and thus truly enjoy acting for the sake of what is admirably appropriate (πρέπος) and beautifully right (καλός).
Even beyond such human thriving might lie a kind of godlike excellence or blessedness (μακαρία) verging on transcendence of the all-too-human, but Aristotle doesn't provide a detailed roadmap for approaching it, even as an ideal.
Human beings are not only the most natural, but also the most complex, of animals. If they are not guided by reason, humans can be the worst of animals; if they are guided by reason, they can be the best. But what does it mean to be "guided by reason"? In essence it means thinking things through as an ongoing practice and settled disposition, taking counsel with yourself or others before taking action, being minded in a measured way, and living what Socrates called an examined life.
This practice of wisdom or mindfulness (φρόνησις) enables you to have a balanced response to your experiences. Without such a practice, you act and react in an unbalanced way; for example, you might get angry with the wrong people, in the wrong situations, too quickly, too strongly, for the wrong reasons, and so on. Your aim is wayward, and you miss the target (σκοπός). The primary causes of missing the mark are the lure of pleasure, the avoidance of pain, the temptation of gain, and the fear of loss — in all their specific forms and in the many domains of life such as bodily pleasures, social interactions, and monetary affairs.
Although balanced activity is pursued not for the sake of enjoyment or for the sake of advantage, yet paradoxically it brings the greatest enjoyment and the greatest benefit in life.
All the excellences of character take the form of a balance point or mean (μεσότης) between overdoing or underdoing a certain form of action or reaction, guided by straight thinking (ὀρθός λόγος) and straight reaching (ὀρθός ὄρεξις). Many of the excellences Aristotle discusses in his writings are still important today (e.g., justice, generosity). However, because of the more communal and uncertain nature of ancient society, Aristotle emphasized thrivings that we no longer value as highly (e.g., valor in battle, righteous anger), whereas the more individualistic and materially abundant nature of the modern world leads us to value qualities that Aristotle did not value or mention (e.g., productivity, financial responsibility).
This raises the question: was Aristotle an individualist? He certainly wasn't an altruist in the modern sense. In many ways, his philosophy goes beyond individualism vs. altruism through his focus on personal relationships of love, family, friendship, and community, in which each person acts for the sake of the other.
Furthermore, for Aristotle the best activities are performed not for the sake of either enjoyment or advantage, but for the sake of what is admirably appropriate (πρέπος) and beautifully right (καλός). This is true not only of particular actions, but more deeply at the level of your character, your way of being, your lifestyle (διαγωγή).
Following ancient Greek tradition, Aristotle distinguished between three fundamental kinds of purpose (τέλος): a life of enjoyment, a life of community involvement, and a life of inquiry. Conspicuously absent from this list are ways of life that nowadays we consider valuable, such as a professional caling (say, being a doctor or starting a company) or creative achievement (say, being a writer or an artist). We might be able to broaden Aristotle's categories to include such pursuits, for instance by seeing how professionalism is a form of philanthropy and how creativity is a kind of inquiry. It also helps to look at Aristotle's three ways of life as a thought experiment: what would you do if you were financially independent? Would you enjoy your leisure, serve your community, or try to learn as much as possible about how the world works?
At the beginning of his Eudemian Ethics, Aristotle says that not having an overall goal (τέλος) for your life is the height of foolishness. By contrast, the height of wisdom is knowing what kind of life you want to craft for yourself — who you want to be, with whom you want to share your life, what you want to learn and achieve, and how to cultivate the best within you. Through experience and reflection and deliberate practice, you can find success at the great task (ἔργον) of crafting a life well lived and achieving the deepest fulfillment (ἐντελέχεια) possible to human beings. Aristotle's deep insights into human life can provide invaluable guidance in that essential endeavor.
Let's see how.