Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

Virtue and Happiness

Aristotle thinks knowing what happiness is is crucial for living a good life. Virtue (or excellence) is the translation of the word arate in Greek. Virtue means doing well in one's characteristic function or activity. For example, for a flute player, their virtue is to play flutes well. For human beings, our virtues is "reason well", the proper exercise of the rational part of the soul, which involves thinking, deliberating, and making decisions in a manner that aligns with virtue and leads to the best possible outcomes for one's life. In Aristotle's point of view, happiness is achieved through living virtuously, which is achieved by cultivating moral virtues and intellectual virtues. Happiness is achieved by actualizing fully potential of one as a human being.