{"id":29,"date":"2021-03-22T13:13:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T13:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/chapter\/5-the-good-cannot-be-pleasure-nor-honour-nor-virtue\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T18:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:12:53","slug":"5-how-people-typically-conceptualize-a-happy-life","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/chapter\/5-how-people-typically-conceptualize-a-happy-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Section 5: How people typically conceptualize a happy life"},"content":{"raw":"Let us continue our discussion again from the point where we digressed.\r\n\r\nPeople, not unreasonably, get their impressions of the good--which is to say, impressions of what counts as a happy life--from the lives they actually live. [15]<\/sub> The majority of people identify the good or happiness with pleasure, which is why they love the life of pleasure. For there are three basic types of life that stand out: the life of pleasure, the life of a good citizen, and the contemplative life.\r\n

(1) The life of pleasure<\/h3>\r\nMost people seem to prefer the life of pleasure. And in this they are clearly slaves to their desires, preferring a life suitable to cattle. [20]<\/sub> Yet they have some argument in favor of their view, [even though it's a weak argument.] For they observe that many people who are in positions of power make the same lifestyle choices as Sardanapallus, [the Assyrian king who lived a life of extreme self-indulgence and the luxurious pursuit of pleasure].\r\n

(2a) The life of the citizen focused on having a good reputation<\/h3>\r\nPeople who are more accomplished and practically oriented tend to identify a happy life with a good reputation. For having a good reputation is, roughly speaking, the goal of the life of a good citizen.\r\n\r\nBut a good reputation seems too superficial to be what we are seeking. After all, it seems a person\u2019s good reputation exists more in the minds of those who think well of that person, rather than being a quality of that person himself. [25]<\/sub> Yet we affirm that happiness belongs to the person himself and is difficult to take away.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, people seem to pursue a good reputation in order to be assured of their own goodness. At any rate, people typically seek to be respected for their excellent or virtuous qualities, and they seek this reputation for excellence among reasonable people and people who know them. According to them, at least, it is clear that excellence or virtue is better than a good reputation.\r\n

(2b) The life of the citizen focused on having virtue<\/h3>\r\nPerhaps one might even suppose that the overall goal of the life of a good citizen [30]<\/sub> is having virtue, rather than having a good reputation. But even having virtue appears somewhat incomplete. For it seems possible to have virtue while being asleep or inactive throughout one's life, and further, while suffering the greatest evils and misfortunes. [1096a1]<\/sub> Yet no one would call someone who was living like that happy, unless he were maintaining a thesis at all costs. But enough of this; for the subject has been sufficiently treated even in the current discussions.\r\n

(3) The contemplative life<\/h3>\r\nThird comes the contemplative life, which we will put off considering until later.\r\n

(4) The life of moneymaking<\/h3>\r\nThe life of the moneymaker [5]<\/sub> is a life of compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking. For wealth is merely useful and for the sake of getting something else.\r\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\r\nTherefore, instead of wealth, one might be more inclined to suppose that pleasure, good reputation, or having virtue is the goal of life, for at least these are loved for their own sakes. But it appears that pleasure, good reputation, and having virtue are not the goal of life either, since many arguments have been presented against them. Let us leave this subject, then.","rendered":"

Let us continue our discussion again from the point where we digressed.<\/p>\n

People, not unreasonably, get their impressions of the good–which is to say, impressions of what counts as a happy life–from the lives they actually live. [15]<\/sub> The majority of people identify the good or happiness with pleasure, which is why they love the life of pleasure. For there are three basic types of life that stand out: the life of pleasure, the life of a good citizen, and the contemplative life.<\/p>\n

(1) The life of pleasure<\/h3>\n

Most people seem to prefer the life of pleasure. And in this they are clearly slaves to their desires, preferring a life suitable to cattle. [20]<\/sub> Yet they have some argument in favor of their view, [even though it’s a weak argument.] For they observe that many people who are in positions of power make the same lifestyle choices as Sardanapallus, [the Assyrian king who lived a life of extreme self-indulgence and the luxurious pursuit of pleasure].<\/p>\n

(2a) The life of the citizen focused on having a good reputation<\/h3>\n

People who are more accomplished and practically oriented tend to identify a happy life with a good reputation. For having a good reputation is, roughly speaking, the goal of the life of a good citizen.<\/p>\n

But a good reputation seems too superficial to be what we are seeking. After all, it seems a person\u2019s good reputation exists more in the minds of those who think well of that person, rather than being a quality of that person himself. [25]<\/sub> Yet we affirm that happiness belongs to the person himself and is difficult to take away.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, people seem to pursue a good reputation in order to be assured of their own goodness. At any rate, people typically seek to be respected for their excellent or virtuous qualities, and they seek this reputation for excellence among reasonable people and people who know them. According to them, at least, it is clear that excellence or virtue is better than a good reputation.<\/p>\n

(2b) The life of the citizen focused on having virtue<\/h3>\n

Perhaps one might even suppose that the overall goal of the life of a good citizen [30]<\/sub> is having virtue, rather than having a good reputation. But even having virtue appears somewhat incomplete. For it seems possible to have virtue while being asleep or inactive throughout one’s life, and further, while suffering the greatest evils and misfortunes. [1096a1]<\/sub> Yet no one would call someone who was living like that happy, unless he were maintaining a thesis at all costs. But enough of this; for the subject has been sufficiently treated even in the current discussions.<\/p>\n

(3) The contemplative life<\/h3>\n

Third comes the contemplative life, which we will put off considering until later.<\/p>\n

(4) The life of moneymaking<\/h3>\n

The life of the moneymaker [5]<\/sub> is a life of compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking. For wealth is merely useful and for the sake of getting something else.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

Therefore, instead of wealth, one might be more inclined to suppose that pleasure, good reputation, or having virtue is the goal of life, for at least these are loved for their own sakes. But it appears that pleasure, good reputation, and having virtue are not the goal of life either, since many arguments have been presented against them. Let us leave this subject, then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-29","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":20,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/249"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":854,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/29\/revisions\/854"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/20"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/29\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/nicomacheanethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}