This section introduces concepts from Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics and examines issues in contemporary science and technology using the same philosophical lens. It tackles the important Aristotelian concepts of Eudamonia and arete, and how these can be used to assess one's relationship and dealings with science and technology. As such, the section also aims to answer the question, "Are we living the good life?"

Intended Learning Outcomes:

Define the idea of the God Life
Discuss Aristotle's concept of Eudamoia and arete.
Examine contemporary issues and come up with innovative and creative solutions to contemporary issues guided by ethical standards leading to a good life.

Aristotle Facts:

Born in Greece, Aristotle lived from 384 BC to 322 BC. The influence of Aristotle's work on the physical sciences spread far and wide, offering well thought out theory and reasoning that would prevail for many years to come before eventually being replaced by modern physics.

Aristotle Quotes That Changed Western History Forever. Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.

The main point of Aristotle in living a good life is virtue ethics which is mainly based on the rational account of a good human life and identifies good human life with virtuous life and virtue is conceived as human excellence. The good life therefore is the life of excellence. For Aristotle, the attainment of good life is the main purpose of human existence

The highest good according to Aristotle is a solitary nucleus, which all other goods are acted upon for; for Aristotle this highest good is happiness or eudaimonia (which translates to living well).

Aristotle thought of happiness as a central purpose of human life. He also believed that our happiness was dependent on ourselves rather than others. “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life: the whole aim and end of human existence.” According to Aristotle, happiness consists in achieving, through the course of a whole lifetime, all the goods — health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc. — that lead to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of human life. This requires us to make choices, some of which may be very difficult.

According to Aristotle, there are three types of friendships: those based on utility, those based on pleasure or delight, and those grounded in virtue. In the first type, friendship based on utility, people associate for their mutual usefulness. These relationships are the most common.

The moral theory of Aristotle, like that of Plato, focuses on virtue, recommending the virtuous way of life by its relation to happiness. ... In subsequent books, excellent activity of the soul is tied to the moral virtues and to the virtue of “practical wisdom” — excellence in thinking and deciding about how to behave.

Moral virtues are exemplified by courage, temperance, and liberality; the key intellectual virtues are wisdom, which governs ethical behavior, and understanding, which is expressed in scientific endeavor and contemplation. For example, regarding what are the most important virtues, Aristotle proposed the following nine: wisdom; prudence; justice; fortitude; courage; liberality; magnificence; magnanimity; temperance.

Aristotle, "What is the Life of Excellence?

For human beings, eudaemonia is activity of the soul in accordance with arete (excellence, virtue, or what something is good for"). ... Happiness, the end of life, that to which all things aim, is activity in accordance with reason (the arete or peculiar excellence of a person).

Generosity as a moral virtue achieves a mean between wastefulness and greed. According to Aristotle, the intellectual virtues include: scientific knowledge (episteme), artistic or technical knowledge (techne), intuitive reason (nous), practical wisdom (phronesis), and philosophic wisdom (sophia).

Resources:

References:

Beckwith, Christopher I. (2015). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (PDF). Princeton University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 9781400866328.
Kumano, Michiko (2018-06-01). "On the Concept of Well-Being in Japan: Feeling Shiawase as Hedonic Well-Being and Feeling Ikigai as Eudaimonic Well-Being". Applied Research in Quality of Life. 13 (2): 419–433. doi:10.1007/s11482-017-9532-9. ISSN 1871-2576.
Beckwith, Christopher I. (2015). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (PDF). Princeton University Press. pp. 22–23. ISBN 9781400866328.
Aristotle, also David Ross, Lesley Brown (1980). "The Nicomachean Ethics". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-06-05. Verbally there is very general agreement, for both the general run of men and people of superior refinement...
Kjell, Oscar (2011). "Sustainable Well-Being: A Potential Synergy Between Sustainability and Well-Being Research." Review of General Psychology, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 255-266. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024603
Graham, Michael C. (2014). Facts of Life: ten issues of contentment. Outskirts Press. pp. 6–10. ISBN 978-1-4787-2259-5.

External Links:

Media related to Eudaimonia at Wikimedia Commons
Ancient Ethical Theory, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Aristotle's Ethics, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Aristotle: Ethics, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy