Nicomachean Ethics · Chapter
Happiness, Fortune, and the End of Life explained
This chapter examines whether a man can be called happy during his lifetime or only after death, as Solon suggested.
What happens
This chapter examines whether a man can be called happy during his lifetime or only after death, as Solon suggested. It argues that true happiness consists in the excellent exercise of one's faculties in accordance with virtue, not in the vicissitudes of fortune. While great misfortunes can impair happiness, the truly good and wise man will bear them with dignity and remain essentially happy, though he may not recover quickly from severe blows. The discussion also addresses the possibility that good or evil may befall a dead man through the fortunes of his descendants, concluding that happiness is an activity of the soul and not subject to such changes.
Themes in this chapter
The Good and Happiness
The chapter defines happiness as the excellent exercise of faculties in accordance with virtue, not as a state dependent on fortune or external goods.
Virtue and Character
The truly good and wise man is described as 'foursquare without a flaw,' bearing misfortunes with nobility and greatness of soul.
Pleasure and Pain
Evil fortunes bring pain and impede the exercise of faculties, but true worth shines out in calm endurance of great misfortunes.
Characters to notice
- Aristotle
Presents the argument that happiness is an activity in accordance with perfect excellence, and that the happy man will bear fortune with dignity.
- Solon
Quoted for the saying that one should wait until the end of a man's life before calling him happy.
- Priam
Used as an example of a man who, though once happy, met with such great misfortunes that he could no longer be called truly happy.
Key passages
“true worth shines out even here, in the calm endurance of many great misfortunes, not through insensibility, but through nobility and greatness of soul.”
A person's genuine excellence is revealed when they endure severe hardships with composure, not because they are numb to pain, but because they possess a noble and great character.
Aristotle emphasizes that virtue is most evident in adversity.
“the happy man will never become miserable; for he will never do what is hateful and base.”
A truly happy person will not become wretched because they will never commit shameful or wicked acts.
Happiness is tied to virtuous action, not to external circumstances.
“nothing human is so constant as the excellent exercise of our faculties.”
Among all human things, the consistent practice of our highest abilities is the most stable and enduring.
Aristotle argues that virtuous activity is more permanent than even scientific knowledge.