Aristotle defines happiness as the final good which means, to live a good life, by doing good deeds and happiness depends upon us. Jefferson states that happiness is freedom
Happiness Follows from Virtue Epictetus asserted that while there is no inherent problem in seeking material comfort, the only true good thing is virtue because only virtue can be beneficial in all situations; thus virtue would not ever fail to bring happiness. This conclusion follows from the reasoning of the Stoic philosophical tradition, which states that a virtuous and reasoning person would live "according to nature" and seek true happiness from within. Epictetus said that with virtue, people would be able to efficiently live a good life; the only value in material things, such as money, is that the virtuous could use them to further
Money and wealth are virtues, and the man who has them is virtuous. “Until and unless you discover that money is the root of all good, you ask for your own destruction. When money ceases to be the tool by which men deal with one another, then men become the tools of
He defines happiness in terms of this theory as an actuality; the virtues which allow happiness are dynamic-but-stable dispositions which are developed through habituation; and this pleasure in turn is another actuality that compliments the actuality of happy living. Augustine’s primary moral
“What is the highest of all goods? It is happiness.” The great Greek philosopher Aristotle developed the normative ethical theory of Virtue Ethics and here argues that happiness is the highest good and what we should all strive to achieve. This theory focuses on the kind of person we should become rather than the actions we should do or avoid and is therefore aretaic. Aretai’ from the Greek essentially means virtue, and this is the heart of Virtue Ethics; that people should concentrate on practicing excellence and being virtuous in order to reach happiness, which is the highest goodness according to Aristotle. Morality is not simply about avoiding the wrong, but is also about doing what is virtuous.
His first form of the argument runs as follows: (P1) God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived (P2) If God exists in the mind alone (in intellect) then a greater being can be conceived (in re) (P3) God to be the greatest being, has to existing the mind and in reality, otherwise another being would be greater than God. (C) Therefore God must exist both in the mind and in reality. This method of reasoning aims to demonstrate the truth of something by reducing to absurdity the very opposite of what you are trying to prove. In Anselm’s case this would be that God does not exist, which he claims is absurd by means of an argument which he claims is logically necessary. For Anselm, God cannot not exist.
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) then decided to develop his idea of Utilitarianism from this quote and apply it to all areas of social activity. Bentham was a hedonist believing that pleasure was the chief ‘good’ and that all aspects of life should maximize pleasure and minimize pain and those that did were the most moral acts. He created the principle of utility which established whether an action was good or bad according to the benefits to the majority amount of people. This is sometimes described as ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ of people making Bentham’s theory quantitative. Bentham said ‘the principle of utility aims to promote happiness which is the supreme ethical value.’ In determining how to measure different amounts of pleasure and deciding on the right and good thing to do Bentham came up with the Hedonistic Calculus.
However, Goodness is something that Plato has never properly established what The Form of the Good exactly is but we recognise it because we understand how they correspond to our intuitive knowledge of the Form of the Good. On the other hand, the physical inanimate objects are the least important of the Forms because they encourage people to accept things at face value and not look belong their senses. The Forms come from a world of perfection which are illuminated by The Form of the Good which is at the top of the hierarchy and is the source of which all the other Forms stemmed from. Gaining knowledge of The Good means that you will then be able to develop a further awareness and understanding of the other Forms. A clear example of this would be in Plato’s analogy of The Cave.
He has given us an immortal soul and through the gifts of intelligence and reason enables us to understand the order of things established in his creation. God has also given us a free will to seek and love what is true, good, and beautiful. Examples are Mark 7:15 and Romans 12:2. God has plans for us all. His plan for each person on earth is for us to prosper that is to have the most amazing life possible on earth.
If the action produces happy and good consequences versus bad, then it’s the morally right action to follow. “But our calculation is not yet over, for the utilitarian principle tells us that in order for the action to be right, it must produce the greatest good for the greatest number of those affected by it.”(De George, page 47) We would need to drill down into almost every person affected by an action to completely render it morally right, the decision would need to produce the greatest amount of good. Ultimately, for Bentham there was no better man. Everyone had the opportunity in creating the greatest amount of happiness and pleasure. In his eyes, men could produce happiness for anyone involved in any