Aristotle on the Uses of Contemplation

Walker, Matthew D.

doi:10.1017/9781108363341

Cited by 15 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 205 publications

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“…And neither is happiness as contemplation the prerogative of professional philosophers though Aristotle is standardly interpreted as referring to them when describing the "happy man" as a philosopher yet another misconception adding to the philosophical chaos about Aristotle's notion of happiness. In fact, he cautions when elaborating on how virtuous character is cultivated that: "…most people do not do these [virtuous acts as virtuous men do them] but take refuge in theory and think they are being philosophers and will become good in this way, behaving somewhat like patients who listen attentively to their doctors, but do none of the things they are ordered to do [21][22][23][24][25]. As the latter will not be made well in body by such a course of treatment, the former will not be made well in soul by such a course of philosophy."…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2023

AAOA

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According to Aristotle, "all things aim" at some good and humans are no exception. We, however, recognize an ultimate or "chief good" which we pursue for its own sake, and for whose sake, we seek and do everything else. Aristotle calls this good eudaimonia or happiness and defines it as an "activity of the soul in accordance with excellence" or arete. That philosophers agree on, but there is no consensus as to what Aristotle's idea of eudaimonia refers to. The two competing interpretations are, that he identifies happiness with "good life" or "faring well", or that happiness for him is the sole activity of contemplation. The controversy is inspired among other things, by Aristotle's treatments of eudaimonia in Book I and Book X of Nicomachean Ethics (NE). The proponents of happiness as living well argue that since humans engage in various activities and pursuits throughout their lives, and Aristotle devotes the better part of NE to discussions about the ethical and intellectual virtues, what lives are good, kinds of actions, etc., happiness must be an inclusive goal referring to nested or related in some way pursuits and engagements. They object to the notion of eudaimonia as the single activity of contemplation arguing that the idea allows no role for the ethical virtues rendering them irrelevant and identifying Aristotle's ethics as amoral at best and possibly immoral. These philosophers argue further that contemplation as outlined by Aristotle is a useless activity and given Aristotle's view that nature does nothing in vain, such an activity questions even the need for contemplation. Regrettably, the proponents of happiness as an activity of contemplation, only defend the idea by attempting to accommodate the various pursuits humans engage in throughout their lives within a notion of eudaimonia as a single overarching goal and in the end, alter the definition of happiness Aristotle intends or forthright reject it even if unwittingly.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2023

AAOA

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“…In addition, he acknowledges the importance of 'external goods' (τῶν ἐκτὸς ἀγαθα) -such as friendship, wealth, and political power -without which one could not realise the human good. It is not immediately obvious how we ought to view these external goods in light of Aristotle's definition of flourishing as rational activity in accord with virtue, nor is it obvious how contemplation relates to other dimensions of rational activity that we might take to be constitutive of flourishing (Charles, 1999;Gasser-Wingate, 2020;Walker, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aristotelian Flourishing and Contemporary Philosophical Theories of Wellbeing

Symons,

VanderWeele

2024

J Happiness Stud

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Several philosophical theories of wellbeing claim Aristotelian ancestry and employ an Aristotelian construct of flourishing. Yet it is not clear how we should interpret Aristotle’s notion of flourishing or eudaimonia (εὐδαιμονία). In this article, we offer an analysis of Aristotle’s notion of eudaimonia and consider to what extent it can be categorized within the framework of contemporary philosophical theories of wellbeing. We stress the active character of Aristotelian flourishing and its focus on the development of living things over time, which contrasts with the static and passive character of contemporary philosophical accounts of wellbeing. We suggest that Aristotle is closest to a perfectionist theory of wellbeing, though even this requires some qualification. While rational activity in accord with virtue is central to Aristotle’s account of living well, Aristotle also states that a range of practical human activities and propitious life circumstances are necessary (and, on some interpretations, constitutive) features of the flourishing life. As such, Aristotelian flourishing includes elements of moral and cognitive perfectionism as well as an objective list of external goods and presupposes one’s embeddedness within communities. We close with a consideration of the implications of our argument for the philosophical and social scientific study of flourishing. Contemporary well-being philosophers should be mindful of ways in which Aristotelian eudaimonia extends beyond the dominant philosophical categories of wellbeing that have a static focus and concern themselves with subjective experience or the possession of objective goods. Social scientists should be transparent about the limits of invoking an Aristotelian pedigree to motivate their own theories of wellbeing and should understand the implications of more limited conceptions.

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Reimagining the Vocation of Being a Scholar at the Intersection of Islamic and Western Higher Education: A Proposal

Sahin

2024

The Contemporary Scholar in Higher Education

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Aristotle on the Uses of Contemplation

Cited by 15 publications

References 205 publications

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Aristotelian Flourishing and Contemporary Philosophical Theories of Wellbeing

Reimagining the Vocation of Being a Scholar at the Intersection of Islamic and Western Higher Education: A Proposal

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