1. Recap of Aristotle So Far…
Summarise what you remember about Aristotle’s philosophy from last lesson in 50 words or less…

2. Reading > Knowledge
Means and Ends
When we look at our lives, our different activities all seem to aim at ‘goods’ – things that will add value to our lives or the lives of the people involved in some way. These ‘goods’ might also be referred to as ‘ends’. For example:
Jobs aim at money
Medicine > Health
Reading > Knowledge
The way in which we achieve these ‘ends’ are usually referred to as ‘means’.

3. End 2 – Buying a new PlayStation
Means and Ends
Aristotle believes that most of our ends are in fact means to achieving some greater end, and that this greater end is itself means to achieving a further end or goal and so on etc.
Action 1 – Going to work
End 2 – Buying a new PlayStation
Means to…
Means to…
Means to…
End 1 – Earning money
End 3 – Playing a new game

4. Recap of Aristotle So Far…
What does Aristotle believe all our actions are guided by?
What does he believe our ultimate aim in life is?
What is the original Greek term for this?

5. “The Good” The Ultimate Good
So Aristotle thinks he has shown that every activity we undertake is in pursuit of some good – something that will benefit our lives. He then takes this further and says that there is ultimately one end we are all aiming for. He refers to this final end as ‘the Good’. Something that we are all striving to reach in order to make our lives as valuable as they can be.
All are means to:
“The Good”

6. But what is the ultimate end or goal?
So how are we to know when we have found an answer, when we have discovered something that really is the supreme Good, the final end we are looking for? Aristotle outlines the following criteria:
It must be an end (We don’t want it for any other reason).
It must be the final end (That for which everything else is done)
It must be self-sufficient. (It needs nothing more to complete it – otherwise there would be more aims)
It must be a life that we all want. (Otherwise it’s not an aim for all)
Finally it must be something that is related to us as human beings. (Which we shall see when we come to his arguments later.)

7. Recap of Aristotle So Far…
What does Aristotle believe all our actions are guided by?
What does he believe our ultimate aim in life is?
What is the original Greek term for this?

8. What does Aristotle think?
“What is the highest of all practical goods? Well… there is pretty general agreement. ‘It is happiness*’ say both ordinary and cultured people.” – Aristotle
*A basic translation of an important term – Eudaimonia. Whilst happiness gives the gist of what Aristotle means by this, we will be looking in more detail at the actual meaning next lesson.

9. Recap of Aristotle So Far…
What does Aristotle believe all our actions are guided by?
What does he believe our ultimate aim in life is?
What is the original Greek term for this?

10. What does it mean to be happy?
Quick Question
What does it mean to be happy?

11. Eudaimonia
We’ve just said, Eudaimonia roughly translates to ‘happiness’, but this is not a full translation.
For a start ‘happiness’ is problematic as an aim, as it’s unclear what it really means for people.
‘Happiness’ also doesn’t entirely encompass what Aristotle meant when he talks about our ultimate aim.

12. Eudaimonia
Eudaimonia for Aristotle means ‘living well and faring well’.
We have some idea of what it is when an animal or plant is living and faring well – we talk of them ‘flourishing’.
A plant or animal flourishes when its needs are met in abundance and it is a good specimen of its species.
So eudaimonia is flourishing for a human: it is ‘the good’ or ‘the good life’ for human beings where our needs are met in abundance and we are a good example of our species.

13. Quick Example
On one half of your whiteboard, draw an example of a ‘good’ daisy as best you can…
On the other half of your whiteboard, draw an example of a ‘flourishing’ daisy as best you can…
So for Aristotle – a ‘good’ life for humans, one in which we achieve happiness and Eudaimonia, is one in which we are flourishing. Our needs are all being met.
What do you notice about the two pictures? Are there any obvious differences?

14. Eudaimonia
We can see then that this is different from our traditional view of ‘happiness’ - but we can further distinguish the two by comparing them side to side:
Happiness
Eudaimonia
Relates to a psychological state
Relates to an activity (living). Realising the
potential a human life has
Subjective. The person who is
Objective. A judgement can be made about
happy/unhappy knows best whether they
someone’s life and how truly ‘good’ it is.
truly are happy/unhappy
Comes and goes very easily
Stable and not easily changed; it is an
evaluation of a person or a life as a whole.

15. Eudaimonia – How do we flourish?
People may agree then that Eudaimonia is a good thing, but they disagree about what needs we should meet in order to be judged as ‘flourishing’. Aristotle therefore starts his investigation by analysing popular explanations of what a ‘flourishing’ life might consist of. It turns out popular explanations of a ‘good’ life 2000 years ago are not too different from what people might say today. Perhaps a good life is one filled with one of the following:
Pleasure
Wealth
Honour
Goodness (Moral)

16. Pleasure Wealth Honour Goodness (Moral)
Use pages in the textbook to help you. For each of the candidates for a ‘good’ life listed above:
State why someone might see it as the main aim in a ‘good’ life.
Explain why Aristotle believes that each cannot be all there is to a ‘good’ life.
Extension: Do you think he is right? Is a life focused on these goals not necessarily a ‘good’ one?

17. Pleasure
Wealth
Honour
Goodness (Moral)

18. Pleasure
Wealth 1.
Utilitarian view, a good life
is one where
we fulfil our
‘pleasures’. 2.
But this would be a
worthless existence, no
better than cattle. 1.
Money
gives us access to so
much in life, it’s obviously
what we should aim for. 2.
If we want money for other
things it can’t be our
ultimate aim. The Good.
Honour
Goodness
(Moral) 1.
To aim for respect amongst
our peers
and in public life
will mean we make the best
decisions. 2.
Honour is something that is
given to us, we can’t gain it
ourselves. It’s not flourishing. 1.
Kantian view –
It just makes
sense to aim to be a good
person in life. 2.
This doesn’t mean we
would have a ‘good’ life
though, we could be a the
most moral person and still
suffer.

19. Eudaimonia
So if we’ve eliminated all these possibilities, what are we left with? What actually is Eudaimonia? What do we need to have a good, flourishing life?
It’s simple, argues Aristotle – a ‘good’ life is one in which we perform our function and purpose as humans correctly. If we can do this, we will achieve Eudaimonia and will ‘flourish’. We will discuss this idea of function in more detail next lesson.

20. Without using your notes:
What can you remember?
Without using your notes:
What for Aristotle is meant by the term Eudaimonia? (Clue: It isn’t happiness)
What are some of the differences between this and happiness?
Why does Aristotle rule out pleasure (UT) and moral goodness (Kant) as being our main aims in life?

21. Without using your notes:
What for Aristotle is meant by the term Eudaimonia? (Clue: It isn’t happiness)
What are some of the differences between this and happiness?
Why does Aristotle rule out pleasure (UT) and moral goodness (Kant) as being our main aims in life?

22. Problems with traditional ethical theories.
Quick Summary So Far
Problems with traditional ethical theories.
Instead try to base ethics on how we should be as people, not rules or consequences.
Everyone’s actions are guided by particular aims or ‘goods’. We want to achieve these things to add value to our lives.
These ‘goods’ are in fact guided by some ultimate aim or ‘good’. One that will make our lives extremely valuable and is not wanted for anything else.
The ultimate aim for humans in life is happiness, or more specifically – Eudaimonia.
Important point: Eudaimonia means more than just ‘happiness’ it means flourishing or living well.
Popular versions of living well are not enough. Pleasure, wealth, honour and moral goodness are not Eudaimonia. Although they may not be bad short-term goals.
To live a good life and achieve Eudaimonia, we must perform our function and purpose as humans.
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