Aristotle's Ethics: Virtue, the Highest Good and the Political Life

Ethics

Ethics, in Aristotle, is part of the discipline of philosophy that deals with the order or the discipline of the individual's good and the human well-being. Ethics, for Aristotle, is teleological or finalist. Aristotle does not accept a single growing good; the first aim is the fine. Thus, he considers that there are many kinds of actions, ends and goods. Some ends are pursued for themselves, as in the case of love and animals, among humans some seek pleasure, others honor, others wealth, and so on. It is important to know which is the highest good in the order of the perfect.

End and Order

The perfect is what we call the end: the aim toward which all other aims are directed, which gives orientation to human life and which allows the human being to reach his own perfection as a human. Aristotle believes that the perfect order is the end that is sought for its own sake and not for anything else, and that is happiness (eudaimonia).

Virtues in Ethics

1. Ethical virtues, which concern behavior, are acquired and consolidated through exercise and practice, such as generosity, truthfulness, moderation and justice.

2. Dianoetic virtues mainly concern knowledge and reason. The sciences can be divided into three types:

• Theoretical sciences (physics, mathematics, metaphysics)
• Practical sciences (knowing how to act as a citizen; their objective is prudence: politics, economics and ethics)
• Productive sciences (knowing how to make, produce or manufacture according to rules and principles known: grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, poetry, music, medicine, etc.)

Human Beings Are Not All Equal

Not all human beings are free by nature; others are slaves. The law of effects even considers that free men are some, laborers as such, artisans and merchants, who are not truly free because they live by their work. For what they prefer, the occupations performed by slaves. Aristotle also established a stable distinction between men and women: women are of a different nature from men and do not form part of free humans.

The Human Being Is Only a Political Animal

Only free men, who have sufficient goods to live without working, can devote themselves to intellectual and sports activities, lead the first virtuous life and achieve happiness. Thus, happiness is only obtained if free men live in the city, in the polis. In short, Aristotle's view is that the human being is by nature a political animal.

The Origin of the State

From a genetic point of view (genesis = origin), the physical and biological individual engenders the family. The union of several families gives rise to the village, an association of several families linked by a common ancestor, and finally the city, the polis or state. The state, then, is the fruit of a long evolution.

Function of the State

The state's purpose is happiness, and it is the moral perfection of its citizens. The state allows the development of all the human faculties in order to live a life of virtue and reason in their behavior. Therefore, politics has no activity unless it has the sense of ethics, that is, of virtue.

The Ideal State Model

For Aristotle, the ideal has always been the city-state. If for Plato the ideal city was just, for Aristotle the city was happy. The idea of the "natural state" was considered absurd and cynical by Alexander's imperialist universalism.

Different Forms of Government

In terms of government, Aristotle prefers different forms of government. His classification shows the same forms as the Sophists: monarchy, democracy and aristocracy, with their degenerations into tyranny, oligarchy and demagoguery. Governments are good when they rule in the interest of the three major groups and aim at the common good. Only when they pursue particular interests do they degenerate into the less desirable forms of government.