Help! Aristotle - Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence

Question

WHERE DID HE WRITE THIS QUOTE??? I NEED TO CITE IT!

Answer 1

Uh... Not trying to be insulting, but read that over, just for a moment.

ARISTOTLE wasn't around when people were big into writing things on the internet; most likely it was just scribbled down on something - papyrus? Is that what they use? - and was passed down and all that.

I'd just cite it as "'Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existance.' - Aristotle."

Answer 2

"The purpose of our lives is to be happy."

Dalai Lama

Answer 3

You will find it in "Nichomachean Ethics", book 1, section 7.  There he says:

"...the self-sufficient we now define as that which when isolated makes life desirable and lacking in nothing; and such we think happiness to be; and further we think it most desirable of all things, without being counted as one good thing among others - if it were so counted it would clearly be made more desirable by the addition of even the least of goods; for that which is added becomes an excess of goods, and of goods the greater is always more desirable. Happiness, then, is something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action."

Or in other words, 'the purpose of all human acts is to procure happiness'.  Which is probably as close to what you are looking for as you are likely to get.  It is worth mentioning as well that Aristotle has a rather different view of what happiness IS than most people, so the quote probably don't quite say what it seems to.

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

Look up Nichomachean Ethics in Wikipedia. Also look up Eudaimonia to get a clear idea as to what Aristotle meant by "happiness".. "Happiness" is a very vague translation of Eudaimonia. Aristotle's idea was that the truly happy person is one who tries his utmost to constantly improve and excel.

So far I've found Wikipedia very reliable for information though I don't quote it as a source. When I want to quote a source I refer directly to links mentioned at the bottom of the Wikipedia article I happen to be using.

Or you can simply google "Aristotle" and "eudaimonia" though I find the problem with this is you end up with heaps of sites to wade through.