Aristotle has argued for two important claims about happiness in the Nicomachean Ethics.

First, Aristotle believes that happiness consists of “activity of the soul in accordance with reason.” Happiness is achieved through controlling one’s passions and appetites through rational processes of thought.

Second, Aristotle claims that accomplishing this involves practicing the virtues over the course of a complete life. Controlling our desires through reason is what makes us honest, just, kind, generous, and courageous. Consequently, the happy life is the virtuous life.

Yet, we might find this conception of happiness strange. It seems easy to imagine someone who is miserable despite, or perhaps even because of, her virtuous character. Can’t we imagine someone who is kind, faces difficult situations with fortitude, and abides by the highest standards of justice, but who is also in poor health, destitute poverty, and has suffered numerous tragedies? In fact, couldn’t hardships like these can make our virtues even more admirable?

But as praiseworthy as this person is, wouldn’t it be strange to say she is happy? She may be a model of virtue, but how could she be happy without the goods of health, wealth, and security – how can someone who experiences repeated tragedies and suffering live well? At the same, given that such misfortunes are not within our control, is it fair to say that such a person cannot live a flourishing life?

In chapter 8 of the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle addresses these questions. He asks: what role do the external goods of pleasure, health, wealth, power, reputation, and honor play in a good human life? In answering this question, Aristotle does not waver from the core of his view of happiness – the happy life is the virtuous life. Yet, neither does he deny the need for some external goods. Furthermore, he recognizes that happiness, in some sense, is never entirely within our control – all kinds of chance occurrences can ruin our health, rob us of our wealth, and cause misery for our loved ones.

Yet, despite this harsh fact about the vicissitudes of fortune, Aristotle gives us reason to be optimistic about the prospects of living a virtuous life. As it turns out, the most secure way of living pleasantly is to live virtuously. This means that, luckily for us, we need not sacrifice the virtuous life for the sake of the pleasant life. All the most important human goods can be achieved through our pursuit of happiness.

This video will examine Aristotle’s view of the role of external goods in the happy human life and consider to what extent the achievement of human flourishing is within our control.

0:00 – Introduction: Virtue and Fortune
3:44 – Three Goods: Soul, Body, and Externals
7:24 – Goods of the Soul: Virtue and Pleasure
26:51 – Happiness, Virtue, and External Goods
36:05 – Happiness and Blessedness

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For the pdf document used in this video see: [ Ссылка ]

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Below is the supplemental video for this lecture:

Aristotle on Happiness and Blessedness: [ Ссылка ]

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Below are previous lectures on Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics:

(1) The Nature and Science of “the Good”: [ Ссылка ]
(2) Happiness, Eudaimonia, and Flourishing: [ Ссылка ]
(3) The Function Argument: [ Ссылка ]

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