The strengths and weaknesses of Aristotle’s virtue ethics

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Aristotle Virtue Ethics
Introduction
Aristotle creatively outlines his through on the virtue of ethics through the text Nicomachean Ethics. The text is a philosophical quest that looks to the nature of good life for human beings. He starts the work by presenting the understanding that there are several goods that every human being finally aims to achieve. The features of the ultimate good include final, complete, continuous, and self-sufficient. The good that every individual explicitly or implicitly aims at achieving is happiness. To discover happiness as human beings' nature, one should determine the function of a human being because an individual's happiness includes realizing the natural function where his being gets directed (Kenny, 16). . The natural function ought to be specific with human beings, as it is essential for human beings. As the desiring and a spirited section of the soul are important, the rationale behind this is that most people consider the soul to be the best identity for human identity. The activities only performed by a human being are intellectual; it relates to the soul's rational pat. Aristotle's presentation on the theory of ethics is highly regarded as a pivotal theory that helps understand humans' functions and their need for happiness; the essay will address this theory and the arguments that have since been presented on the theory.
Exegesis
In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, he considers happiness's primary idea to be wealth, honor, and pleasure. According refers to the idea of happiness to be the final good. It is the nature of self-sufficiency as it gives an individual a lasting harmony. Pleasure, wealth, and honor are all pursued the sake of attaining happiness. These are pieces of happiness; however, they don't really relate to happiness on themselves. The Nicomachean philosophy by Aristotle is an inquiry that looks to the goodness of life in human beings (Heimo, 100). He starts the philosophy by noting that there is an ultimate good for everyone and that human actions ultimately aim at this final good. The required features in attaining this ultimate good include being self-sufficient, final, complete, and continuous. The good which every human being aims at is called happiness. Aristotle argues that, in order to discover the nature of happiness in humans, it is essential to ascertain human beings' function because the happiness of an individual includes fulfilling this natural function in which his being gets directed. This natural function has to be specific to the individual and essential in being human. An individual is practically his intellect. Since the soul's desiring elements are vital, that rationale to the soul lies in efficiently considering being an individual identity. The only activity performed by human beings is intellectual; this is the rational part of the soul as related to reason. Happiness to humans, therefore, relates to the activity of the soul by using reason. In a practical sense, Aristotle presents that such activity is demonstrated through ethics when an individual channels his actions by reason.
The virtue of virtue relates to the habit that is disposed towards the action of deliberate choice. A virtuous action requires the individual to be deliberate, knowing what he is doing and committing to the action because it is noble. In any of these situations, action by virtue is a means of the extreme. Prudence is also necessary for the virtue of ethics since it is related to intellect, where an individual can determine the mean categorical for every situation. Aristotle argues that it is only voluntary actions that are virtuous. For any action to be involuntary, there have to be external principles leading to the action, and the individual ought not to contribute to the action. Actions done by ignorance have differing levels of voluntariness, depending on whether or not the individual wanted to do it if he knew what he was to do. A good intention is required for the action of virtue. It is something that was previously deliberated upon and formed with thought or reason. You can use only intent on something that you have the power to do. According to Aristotle, pleasure is good as it perfects actions. The goodness with pleasure is determined through the goodness of an action that accompanies it. To attain the highest good, one ought to include pleasure for happiness. Aristotle understands that man's highest action and complete happiness relate to attaining the highest good. Intellectual capacity is manned highest capacity, and thus highest happiness relates to the application of intellectual capacity. Life of contemplation is sublime in that it is divine practically, and man can only achieve it by having something divine within him (Duffy, 230). Contemplation relates to the action that best fulfills every qualification required for ultimate good is because it is the most complete, continuous, and self-sufficient in every action. For a good number of individuals, mere exhortation cannot be enough in making them virtuously. Good laws also are necessary for making people have virtues in their actions. Proper education and laws are important in making young people desire to act with reason.
Argument
Aristotle's argument on happiness is truly founded o the grounds of honor, respect, and virtue of goodness. Every human being lives pursuing happiness because this is the ultimate goal, as Aristotle accounts. According to Aristotle, very human beings lie to attain happiness as these are the want defines the best life. Aristotle believes that we all pursue happiness as our ultimate goal. Every human activity ultimately leads to the consideration of doing some good in life. Most of the activities I human beings are related to a higher end. The highest good in human beings is the ultimate activity at the end. Happiness is that particular good (Snow, 321). Aristotle accounts that when we pursue happiness, we do it on our own accord, and this is not because it helps achieve any other end. The ultimate goal in the virtue of ethics is achieving happiness. Happiness largely depends on living on the required virtues. It is a deposition and not an activity. Virtuous people naturally disposed of tending to behave in ways that are right and rational. Virtue relates to the mean state between deficiency and extremes of excess. It is a mean that varies from one individual to the other; therefore, there are no rules on how to prevent vice. Aristotle argues that it is only voluntary actions that are blameworthy and praiseworthy. Voluntary is any action originating from an individual and not from any outside force such as a stumble or a push. Voluntary actions are described by the rationale choice, where an individual determined the appropriate strategy through reasoning on how to meets such ends. Aristotle described the various ethical virtues and their vices. Courage relates to the confidence in facing fear. Temperance, on the other hand, relates to giving away money in tasteful and appropriate means. Proper ambition and magnanimity involve having the correct disposition concerning honor and the knowledge of what is due.
Justice, according to Aristotle, includes the other virtues because just including the exhibition of virtues generally. As human beings, there are two main means of justice; these include rectification and distributive. Distributive deals with wealth distribution among groups of people and use merit in the distribution. Rectification relates to exchanges between people and aims to restore the sense of equality and balance between the concerne...