Happiness; Plato Vs. Aristotle

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Webster’s Dictionary defines happiness as, “an agreeable feeling or condition of the soul arising from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind; the possession of those circumstances or that state of being which is attended enjoyment; the state of being happy; contentment; joyful satisfaction; felicity; blessedness.” Many attempts have been made throughout history to better define the word happiness, and the two best-known philosophers of Antiquity, Plato and Aristotle, spent much of their studies on the subject. Both men felt that happiness was an important factor of life. Plato argues on behalf of a life of justice leading to happiness while Aristotle argues that happiness is “the good” for man and the end goal of humanity. This paper will discuss the arguments of each Philosopher using the arguments posed in The Gorgias by Plato and the Nichomachean Ethics by Aristotle.
In the opinion of Plato, the just life is its own reward, and he offers three basic arguments to prove this theory. Plato writes of a conversation between Socrates and Polus in The Gorgias. In this selection Plato utilizes questionable definitions for certain terms such as “happy” being defined as “admirable, or just, and good” and “miserable” being defined as “wicked or unjust”(G. 470e). First, Plato defines being happy as an attribute of being admirable and good. Using these definitions Plato can adjust his wording to show that “admirable” is opposite to “unjust” and therefore prove initially that an unjust person cannot be happy. Next, he approaches the topic of whether a person of great power can be happy and unjust, which, by Plato’s definitions is impossible, with the example of King Archelaus and his unjust activities (G. 470d – 471a). Plato shows through the conversation that having great power does not ensure happiness because one who has great power is not necessarily just. Using this example Plato ...