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The Aristotelian Concept of Happiness Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1942 The Aristotelian Concept of Happiness Stanley C. Tillman Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Tillman, Stanley C., "The Aristotelian Concept of Happiness" (1942). Master's Theses. 394. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/394 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1942 Stanley C. Tillman THE ARISTOTELIAN CONCEPT OF HAPPINESS BY STANLEY C. TILLMAN, S.J. A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MAY 1942 VIT~ Stanley C. Tillman, S.J. was born in New­ port, Kentucky, October 5, 1914. He was graduated from Xavier High School, Cincinnati, Ohio, June, 1932, and entered the So­ ciety of Jesus at Milford Novitiate, Milford, Ohio in September, 1932. In the same year he enrolled at Xavier Uni­ versity, Cincinnati, Ohio, in the Department of Arts but transferred to Loyola University in 1936 when he was registered in the West Baden College of that University at West Baden Springs, Indiana. The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Greek was conferred by Loyola University, June, 1937. During the scholastic year of 1939 and 1940 the writer was engaged in teaching Greek and English at the University of Detroit High School, Detroit, Michigan. From 1940 to 1942 he has been teaching the Classics, EngliSh, and History at Loyola Aca­ demy, Chicago, Illihois. During the past five years, from 1937 to 1942 he has also devoted his time to graduate study in the field of the Classics, majoring in Greek. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. EY6AIMONIA - ITS USE IN GREEK •••••••••••••••••••••• 1 Etymological significations - Homer - Homeric Hymns - Hesiod - Pindar - Historians - Drama- tists - Philosophers. II. ARISTOTLE CONCLUDES TO HAPPINESS ••••••••••••••••••• 9 Ultimate end - Essence - Self-sufficient - Relatively perfect - Definition - Proof from proper function - Activity of intellect - harmonization with virtue. III. ARISTOTLE CONSIDERS ADVERSARIES •••••••••••••••••••• 21 Idea of good - Reason for the doctrine - Charac­ teristics of the Ideas - In existence - In causa­ tion - In cognition - Aristotle objects - Transcen­ dent good - Analogice.l good - Formal ob ject - Unattainable good - Pleasure - Honor - Virtue. IV. ARISTOTIE MAKES HAPPINESS CONTEMPIATION •••••••••••• 38 Analysis of definition - Activity - Soul - Virtue - Intellectual virtues - Moral virtues - Formal object - The definition tested - Place of virute - Place of pleasure - Werurness of the doctrine BIBLIOGRA.PHY' •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 52 cmp~RI EY6AIMONIA -ITS USE IN GREEK Before beginning this discussion of Aristotle's posi­ tion on happiness, we ought first to consider how he and other Greek writers have used the word eUOal~OYta and what mean- ings have been attached to that word and its cognates. Ad­ vancing from the early Greek writers down to Plato and Aris- totle, we find that the word has undergone some very inter- esting changes. The word itself is etymologically constructed of two distinct words, both very frequently employed in Homer, eu and Oat~wy. This latter, Liddell and Scott tell us, is of the same root as Oato~al, OatYU~l, Oat~; and means "one who distributes a part." Hence, oat~wy originally referred to anyone. Who gave a share or portion to someone, but was proper­ ly applied to a god who gave those things which men have. oat­ ~oye, were all of these gods. Homer calls them ow~~pe~ ~awy.l These oat~oye~ were, in general, favorable beings; although Homer occasionally speaks of a oat~wy xaxo~, a~uyepo,.2 Grad­ ually, however, by an extrinsic denOmination, the word was applied to the part that was given to and was possessed by man. 1 Ode 8, 325. 2 Ibid. 5, 396; 10, 634. 1 2 Thus, the word became equivalent to,~opo~. Hector tells EVidently these refer to the "lot" or "share" or "due." The meaning does not remain fixed at this point but / is further made synonymous with ~6x~, fortune. Festugiere says: On lit en meme temps: "Beaucoup ont Ie coeur mauvais, mais une bonne fortune": chez d'autres, tfle vouloir est bon, mais ils gemissent sous Ie poids d'une mauvaise fortune " Ie "distributeur de parts" et la Apart Distribuee" finissent ainsi par sejconfondre avec ~OX~ • ••• Baq..LOYlal sont dites les qualites qu'on tient de la nature et que fait triompher Ia Bonne For- tune (€6~uxra) (Pind. Nem I, 9-10). Rlen d'etonnant a voir Aristophane unlr comme deux synonymes Bar~CI)Y et ~6x~: tt selon la part assignee par le distributeur divino ou "selon la part fortune," c'est meme chose.4 Thus we can trace the general evolution of the word: dis­ tributer of parts, the parts distributed, fortune. This word in its;primitive use reveals an early ex­ istence of a predominant characteristic of the Greeks, their intensely religious, outlook. These gifts were given man by the gods, beings greater than him and upon whom he was de­ pendent. Gradually, however, as their simplicity faded, 3 Ibid. 8,166 4 Festuglere, A.J., Contemplation et Vie Contemplative Selon Platon, Paris, LibraIre Philosophique J. Vrin, 1936: 270. 3 the Greeks lost this outlook; and, consequently, the word lost its original meaning. First, it was divorced from the gods, "a part;" then identified withftchance," "fate," "fortune." Only later, as we shall see, did the philosophical writers tend to restore the religious significations. Aristo­ tle sees in this "part f' a s€ rOY 't,. 5 €~Oal~OYra will be found to have a similar evolution of meaning. It means "'the good lot ;one has received. tr Fes- tugiere sees in the word in its earlier development a re­ ligious signification but insists that it shortly lost this meaning. Et, sans doute, le mot implique, dans le principe, une id6e reli~ieuse; cette bonne part nous a 6te distribuee par la divinite; tout bien, tout mal aussi, nous vient des dieux. Mals le sens religiuex ne va pas au dela, et il ne faut pas encore l'entendre comme une habitation de Dieu en nous.6 We ask further: in what did this €UOal~OYra consist according to various Greek authors. Homer, strange to say, does;not use the word, even though he frequently employs its constituent parts. In its place he uses the word ~A- ~lO~ to refer to a p~ely material prosperity. To these --~-------~-~------- 5 Ethica Nicomachea: ll77b • 6 Festugiere: Ope Cit. 271. 4 material gifts Odysseus refers when he says: ~ar yap t~ ~o~'e~eAAov tv aVOpaalV~~lO~ eTval .7 If is first in the ~ Homeric Hymns that e06a'lJ.Ovta occurs. In the address to II Athene: xarpe, sea, oo~ O'c!tl~l ~UXT)V euoaltloVlT)V ~e 8 and Ii f 'I from the context, we find euoal~ovla is a type of prosperity lir I' and happiness resulting from the fortunate outcome of an im- I,ll' I (I: pending war. It is a gift not to one individual, but to the IIU I 'i, people in general, and consists in purely material prosperi- ;1:/ II ty with security from the enemy. The word, moreover, may iuI i ,I apply to the good lot acquired from working the land as in II/ 11':, I I, the case of the peasant, Hesiod: II I 1,1 ii 1,1 Add to this the comment made by Robinson: Non sunt intelligendae omnes onep~aala(, sed eae demum, quae comittuntur con­ tra auspiciorum disciplinam, ut verba proxime antecedentia suadent. onep - ~aalaL enim dicuntur quaevis delicta, quibus modum 1imites a ratione positos transi1imus.10 We see, then, that this ia a material good:following, however, I -------------------- 7 Ode 18,138 8 HOmeric Hymns, 19,5. 9 Hesiod: Opera et Dies, 824. 10 Robinson, Thomas:~o~OY TOY AZKPAIOY TA EYPIZKOMENA e Theatro Sheldonisno, Oxonii, 1'/3'/. p. -;09. Commentary iiI! to line 827 of the text. II ~ 'i!II 5 upon certain moral observances accompanying the working of the land. Pindar aSBociates happiness with the honor and glory of physical prowess conjoined with the prosperity of one's children. 'ronis is evident in his tenth Pythian Ode: €06at~wv ~e xat ~~v~~~~ oJ~o~ aVDP ytyve~a, o~ av xepatv ~ ~o6wv aQe~~ xpa~~aal~ ~a ~eYla~'aE9Awv eA~ ~OA~~ ~e xat agevel, , N M ~ xal ~WhlV E~L Veapov , 7- '~M # , #. xa~ alaav 610V 16~ ~oxov~a a~e<pavwv 11091WV. However, he also recognized the inability of honor, eating, and sensual pleasure to satisfy, thus admitting that some­ thing more is needed.12 Solon requires a large number of;con­ ditions for one to be happy. The city must be at peace; the childre~good and fair to behold; there must be sufficient wealth to allow the individual to live according to the norms of the day; his death must be glorious; and he must be com­ memorated with national honors. Herodotus quite frankly iden­ tifies eu6al~ovta with wealth, and the eu6at~ove, are those who can afford beef, horses, and lamb on the occasion of their birthdays.1S ElseWhere, he speaksjof the h~py states which fall and the;poor states which rise; thus seeming to mean those possessing wealth as contrasted with those in poverty.14 Thucydides finds no trouble in grouping the eu6at~ove~ among 11 Pindar: Pythian Odes, x, 22-26 12 Pindar: Nemean Odes, vii, 8S.
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