That's not what Aristotle meant.

Today in class, we discussed Aristotle’s ideas about happiness in relation to being virtuous. Aristotle was a realist because he believed that people could be miserable, even when they are virtuous. Aristotle went against Socrates idealist beliefs because Socrates felt that people who are virtuous would always be happy. In class, I stated my point that Aristotle may be wrong because everyone has the ability to be happy, no matter what situation they are in. Even though I made my point in class, I feel that I was not able to expand on this idea in a way that I truly wanted. I do not think that people realize the great flaw that Aristotle‘s argument regarding happiness has; I feel it is important for people to understand that in many ways, Aristotle did not outline what happiness truly is.

It makes sense that Aristotle is a realist because his background is in the sciences. This is the reason I understand why he believes that being virtuous does not mean being happy. I agree with him that there are good people who are completely miserable. The major problem is that people often misinterpret Aristotle’s ideas. People often feel that Aristotle meant that we cannot be happy from just living as a good person, but we must look for happiness on the outside of us. I do not think Aristotle meant this, but his argument seems to point to this idea. What people need to realize is that happiness is inside of us; we create our own happiness. For some reason, most people think that happiness relates to what happens to a people in their lives; this idea is simply not true. It is a simple fact that we determine how we feel about the world around us. It does not matter if I have a million dollars, or one dollar, I can be happy whenever I want to. We can change our feelings, by changing the way we view our surroundings.

It is obvious to me why there is so much depression in highly economically developed countries like America. People do not understand that they control their own ability to be happy. There is major problem with flawed cognitive reasoning in our society. People need to realize that what our society provides for information is not always true. People grow up thinking that the happiness is created from things outside of themselves. These people need to follow Socrates advice, and begin to examine their lives. The problem is that people are too busy in their hectic lives to realize that they will never reach happiness until they change the way they feel about their surroundings. I feel that Aristotle may be right that being vitreous does not mean you will be happy, but I think that people our misunderstanding his point. There are good people who can be miserable, but they also have the choice to be happy; being happy does not relate to the what happens in a person’s life, it relates to their thoughts about what happened. Everyone has the choice to be happy, no matter if they are virtuous or not.

1)Do you think it is better to be a realist, or and idealist? Support your opinion.

2)Do you find it interesting that the occurrence of mood disorders is a lot higher in economically developed countries then other countries? Explain.