Aristotle and Relationship at Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Aristotle and Relationship at Work - Essay Example The excellences most properly human, then, are the intellectual excellences, and happiness consists primarily in activity in accordance with those excellences -- it is a form of intellectual activity Aristotle sees happiness as one of the main issues in life of human beings. In his works, happiness is referred as "eudaimonia". To say that happiness concerns the soul or the animator is to say that human flourishing requires the exercise of certain of the faculties by which life is defined; in particular, a person cannot be said to flourish as a human being unless he is exercising distinctively human faculties. "Happiness is an activity 'in accordance with excellence" (Kraut 83). To flourish is to do certain things excellently or well. A man who exercises his faculties but does so inefficiently or badly cannot be said to be making a success of his life. Then what are the excellences in accordance with which we must act if we are to make a success of things Aristotle distinguishes between excellences of character and excellences of intellect. The former include both what we think of as moral virtues -- courage, generosity, fairmindedness, and so on, and also such dispositions as a proper self-respect, an appropriate degree of ostentation, and wit; the latter include such things as knowledge, good judgment, 'practical wisdom'. In addition, Aristotle spends some time in discussing the quasi-excellence of friendship (Chang 64). According to Pangle: For the pursuit of this highest good must begin precisely by questioning the goodness of what is one's own, the goodness of the reigning pieties of those among whom one is born, and the likelihood that simple fellowship with kindred souls can ever be the core of happiness, as bewitchingly desirable as it may seem" (35). Thus any choice or possession of the natural goods, goods of the body, wealth, friends, or any other good, which will best produce contemplation by the god [that is to say, by our intellect, the god within us], is best and is the finest standard; and any which, either because of deficiency or because of excess, prevents us from cultivating the god and from contemplating, is bad.' To flourish, to make a success of life, requires engagement in intellectual pursuits. Aristotle thought that such pursuits were immensely enjoyable, and that the intellectual life offered an unparalleled happiness Chang 64). Friendship is seen by Aristotle as a desired goals of human relations, but he accepts friendship between equals only. Aristotle lists some defining characteristics of friendship. A friend wishes and does what is good for