FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

Foundations of American Experience

The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle deal with the philosopher 's ideas on natural and legal forms of justice along with the meaning of happiness . Happiness , according to Aristotle , is the highest goal of life every man must pursue . However , he does not merely talk about happiness in terms of material gains and comforts it is the happiness of the soul he searches for in his ethical treatise . He argues that since mankind is blessed with the power of rationale and logical reasoning , this happiness may only be achieved

through philosophical reflections . On the other hand , Plato 's Myth of the Metals in The Republic raises a crucial question pertaining to the correlation between morality and happiness . The philosophic investigation of Plato deviated from that of Aristotle in that Plato deliberately averted from critically analyzing the Sophistic doctrines of happiness . This essay is going to explain the Aristotelian and Platonic viewpoints of happiness and subsequent philosophies as embodied in The Nicomachean Ethics and The Republic respectively

In The Nicomachean Ethics , Aristotle discussed at length the ways of attaining the well-being of the city-state as well as that of individuals . In doing so he faced the challenge of elucidating political theories that play an important role in determining the welfare of mankind from a broader perspective . Socio-political justice is aimed at establishing well-being of the city-state which , in turn , concerns individual happiness . Aristotle argues in The Nicomachean Ethics that while contemplation of truth by an individual leads to...