8. Aristotle on Virtue by Group 5 https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1 1. What is Aristotle's understanding of happiness? According to Aristotle's view, how may a person achieve happiness? 2. Explain the relation between Virtue and Happiness. 3. Do you think a person (such as a bad person) can live a good life without being virtuous, or, on your view, may a virtuous person live a terrible life? en-us 2016-10-28 08:45:20 UTC 2016-11-23 07:52:01 UTC hello@padlet.com Forum Chair's Answer s1112902 https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/135584744 1. According to Aristotle, happiness and fulfillment are directly correlated with virtue. By living in accordance to virtue is an essential part of achieving happiness or fulfillment. To live in virtue, is not merely by the thoughts of "good" or by weighing up, calculating, the benefits of various courses of action. But it is rather taught and trained at early stages of life, also emphasizing the importance of teaching. It is useless to just think or measure but by doing, taking action is the key component. Another very important point according to Aristotle is that, achieving virtue is not just one complete form, but it must be in constant development throughout our whole lifetime, making it a habit. It is very important that these actions are constant and consistent in order to develop them into habits. Aristotle further explains that to strike the perfect balance between the two vices of excess and deficiency is virtue. Finding the mean between the two is the right desires and behaviours, this is doing "good", this is achieving virtue. This pattern of choice determined by reason is achieved over a lifetime to live a virtuous life, meaning a happy life. 

Just like everything in existence that serves a purpose, we serve a purpose. Humans are entitled to fulfill and serve our function well. And our function is to live by virtue, and only then our purpose have been fulfilled. Our happiness is a product of this fulfillment. 

2. There is a positive relationship between virtue and happiness. To be happy, you need to be virtuous. The more virtuous someone is, the happier they get. Throughout your lifetime, you will need to perform habitual virtuous acts with constant practice, in which true happiness will be gained. Permanent inbred character traits, which can be dispositions of an individual, has to be developed overtime to be virtuous. 
 
To learn to be virtuous, it requires habits of feelings and actions, something you are accustomed to do. It is a kind of firmly fixed and established dispositions of a character, a person’s inherent qualities of mind and character. Ethical virtues are naturally acquired inborn, but it needs to be fully developed by exercising it overtime in a constant manner. To determine whether you’re being virtuous, you have to live human’s potential to the fullest, in correlation with happiness. According to Aristotle, virtue helps improve the quality of someone/something, ensuring something stays in the good state and makes it perform its function well, and in return providing happiness to people indirectly. To achieve happiness from being virtuous, you have to work towards to “mean” of virtues, which is equidistant from 2 extremes. For example in generosity, you cannot be recklessly over-generous, but at the same time you cannot be selfish and greedily self-indulgent. 
 
Virtues and happiness therefore have great relations and correspond with each other with a mutual connection. 

3. To define a good life, it may mean living under no poverty, a wealthy and successful life with a good job. But it may mean the life was achieved from unrighteous deeds eg. Black market or drug dealing or pimps. A bad person can live a good life, if a good life means living a happy life as a bad person. They may find happiness in other forms and it does not necessarily relate with being virtuous. Their definition of a good life has nothing to do with being virtuous. Therefore they may still live a happy life or a good life without virtue at all.
 
A virtuous person can live a terrible life eg. Martin Luther King, put in jail for many years. Though they may live a terrible physical life, it does not necessarily mean that they are not happy. They have internal happiness even though they may suffer in the physical realm. This person may live a virtuous life however, if the person still and yet does not feel fulfilled by doing so, then the person may feel unsatisfied with their life they have lived. They may feel their life's purpose has not been met by living a virtuous life because their definition of a good life may not concern with being virtuous.
 
Living a good/happy life is subjective and it may differ from individuals. Therefore, even a virtuous person may not live a good life because their purpose of life does not equal to Aristotle's point of view of a good/happy life.

]]> 2016-11-06 08:10:21 UTC https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/135584744 A virtuous person shall live a good life s1112914 https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/136932705 I think that the problem about whether a virtuous person can live a terrible life or a bad person can live a good life depends on how a 'good life' is measured and percieved. 

If a person has the value that killing people is his ultimate aim of life and he would think that he has a 'good life' for these acts. However, this would be a very exceptional case where this person shall be what we name as a psychopath, or having a particular mental disorder. But to most of the population, it is opposite to what a good life means.

For those who agrees on Aristotle's understanding to happiness would think that a person who takes 'good' action throughout his life and upholds virtue such as benevolence and justice, would attain happiness even if his interest may be affected at times. For example, a person's family member killed someone and the person witnessed the process by chance. Suppose there is no other evidence to prove the murder. To obtain justice, the person refuse to lie even if the truth may send his/her beloved family member to jail. Although not seeing his/her family for a long period may be seen as something unhappy to the person, I believe he would attain a better life telling the truth instead of burying it because if he didn't do so,  guiltiness would torture him for the whole life while he realize his deterioration of values, and lead him further away from a 'good life'. Therefore I believe there are virtues that humanity should possess in order to live a good life.

Angel Li Huiping 
11/11/2016]]> 2016-11-11 05:16:35 UTC https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/136932705 Questions to the Forum chair (Question 2) https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/137747302 You have mentioned that virtuous means taking a balance of excess and deficiency and being virtuous can help us to achieve happiness eventually. I agree with this opinion that virtue is linked with happiness.

And here are my questions. Is a person who cannot achieve the balance and be virtuous impossible to  be happy? And using Jesus Christ as an example, do you think he is a virtuous person at all? I think he seemed on the excess side that contributed and sacrificed too much.
Thank you very much.

Chung Cheuk Lam Natalie
15/11/2016]]> 2016-11-15 15:01:30 UTC https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/137747302 Questions to the Forum Chair (Question 3) https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/137755870 I understood the point that bad person can have a good life and happy life while good person can fail to have good and happy life. It is a rewarding idea to me.

Since you have mentioned the subjectivity and flexibility of having good and happy life? Do you think it is possible that everyone in the world can attain good and happy life together? Why?
Thank you very much.

Chung Cheuk Lam Natalie
15/11/2016]]> 2016-11-15 15:16:47 UTC https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/137755870 Relation between virtue and happiness https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/139518781 I think the forum chair has pointed out the important point that the idea of happiness among different people may vary, as they may be following different virtues. In my point of view, virtue and happiness are closely interrelated. No matter how bad a person is, he/she may still uphold certain virtue (maybe even if the virtue is perceived wrongly by the person), and therefore the person is happy as he/she can uphold those virtues and be his/her lifelong goal.  After all, happiness is really subjective and difficult to judge in a case by case situation.

Siu Chi Ying Jenny
23/11/2016]]> 2016-11-23 07:38:26 UTC https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/139518781 Living a terrible life and being a virtuous person https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/139520573 I totally agree with the forum chair's views on the relationship between being a virtuous person and his/ her quality of living. I think some people are upholding virtue (eg. those working in the voluntary works in less developed countries), these people are simply volunteers who hope to help people (eg. victims in a natural disaster) to rebuild their homes, volunteers may need to work for a long time and they may get hurt during the process. We understand that the quality of living at that period of time of the volunteers is poor, however they are upholding the virtue of helping people in need. Thus, in some circumstances, there may be a negative relationship between living a good life and being a virtuous person.

Siu Chi Ying Jenny
23/11/2016]]> 2016-11-23 07:51:41 UTC https://padlet.com/s1112914/utw8u7tw4hk1/wish/139520573