Aristotle: Happiness, Virtue Ethics, and Justice

Aristotle on Happiness, Virtue and Justice

Being and the Good

For Aristotle there is an exact correlation between being and the good. There is no single being, but many beings, and there is no single good but many private goods.

Ethics as Telological and Eudaimonistic

Aristotle's ethics is essentially telological and eudaimonistic. All human actions are oriented toward the achievement of the good. This good is the final cause. These goods are more or less desirable but are not considered the highest good. But the difficulty lies in determining specifically what those goods and that happiness consist of.

The Highest Good and Its Characteristics

According to Aristotle, the greatest good or happiness has the following characteristics:

• It is a way of acting and living that consists in the cultivation of virtues.
• It is an end in itself; it is not a means to achieve something else.
• It is the ultimate end.
• It covers all life and does not therefore refer to a specific time.

Characteristics of Virtue

The characteristics that Aristotle proposes for virtue are:

• It is an acquired habit; it does not arise spontaneously from nature.
• It is a voluntary habit; it implies an act of deliberation and choice.
• Ethical virtue consists of the fair mean between two vicious extremes.
• It is not enough to know what virtue consists of; it is necessary to practice it.

Two Types of Virtue

Aristotle distinguishes two types of virtue:

Intellectual (Dianoetic) Virtues

Intellectual or dianoetic virtues: The human intelligence is concerned with universal and necessary things. To this intelligence correspond three virtues.

• The virtue of the theoretical function, called wisdom.
• Understanding: Aims at the first principles of demonstration.
• Demonstrative science: It consists of the power to demonstrate by proceeding from first principles.

The virtue of the practical function is called prudence and is knowing how to choose the most appropriate mean between two extremes.

Ethical Virtues

Ethical virtues refer to the non-rational part of the human being. Ethical virtue is achieved when the middle term is found between two vices.

Justice as a Central Virtue

Justice is the virtue par excellence, and in a way it includes all the others. Justice, according to Aristotle, consists essentially in two things.

Total and Particular Justice

• Total justice: Consists in obedience to the law and the conformity of actions with it.
• Particular justice: There is justice when there is equity and everyone receives what is due; otherwise, an injustice occurs.

Ways of Being Equitable

Aristotle believes that there are two ways of being equitable:

• Corrective justice: It deals with the relations of some citizens with others.
• Distributive justice: Distribution is done according to merit.