Nicomachean Ethics · Chapter
Happiness as a Final Good Worthy of Reverence explained
Aristotle distinguishes between goods that are praised (like virtue) and those that are revered (like happiness).
What happens
Aristotle distinguishes between goods that are praised (like virtue) and those that are revered (like happiness). He argues that happiness is not praised but called blessed, as it is a final and self-sufficient good that serves as the starting-point for all human action. He references Eudoxus' argument that pleasure's lack of praise indicates its higher status, and concludes that happiness is divine and worthy of reverence.
Themes in this chapter
The Good and Happiness
Happiness is identified as a final good that is revered rather than praised, serving as the ultimate end of all human action.
Practical Wisdom and Reason
The chapter emphasizes that happiness is a starting-point or principle, implying the role of reason in recognizing it as the highest good.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“What we praise seems always to be praised as being of a certain quality and having a certain relation to something.”
Praise is always directed at things because of their specific qualities or their relation to something else.
Aristotle establishes the criterion for distinguishing praised goods from revered goods.
“If then, praise be proper to such things as we mentioned, it is evident that to the best things is due, not praise, but something greater and better, as our usage shows; for the Gods we call blessed and happy, and 'blessed' is the term we apply to the most godlike men.”
Since praise applies to lesser goods, the highest goods—like happiness—deserve a greater honor, which is why we call gods and godlike men 'blessed' rather than merely praising them.
Aristotle argues that happiness is a revered good, not a praised one, aligning it with the divine.
“And this further seems to follow from the fact that it is a starting-point or principle: for everything we do is always done for its sake; but the principle and cause of all good we hold to be something divine and worthy of reverence.”
Because happiness is the ultimate goal for which we do everything, it functions as a first principle, and such a principle is considered divine and deserving of reverence.
Happiness is elevated to a foundational and divine status in Aristotle's ethical framework.