What might Aristotle think about such notions of happiness?.
Socrates teachings
Paper instructions:
1. What does Socrates teach us, especially in his engagements with the Sophists, that is relevant to 21st-century America, particularly with respect to education and justice?
Be sure to a) offer a clear thesis, b) clearly contrast Socrates’s views of education and justice to those of the Sophists, c) properly document your interpretations of Socrates and the Sophists with specific references to the required readings for the course, and d) explain clearly how the teachings of Socrates and the Sophists are relevant to us today.
Be sure to include specific references to at least the assigned a) sections of Plato’s Republic and Gorgias, b) fragments from the Sophists in Readings, and c) selections from Thucydides and Xenophon that were distributed electronically.
Terms to include in your discussion: dike, harmonia, paideia, doxa, eidos (eide), agathon, psyche, nous
How is eudaimonia, for Aristotle, a process of self-actualization and a matter of virtue (arête)? How does such a notion compare and contrast to contemporary notions of happiness? What can we learn today from Aristotle about the meaning of true happiness?
Consider in your answer:
What is the relationship of potency (potentiality) to act (actuality)?
What distinguishes living from non-living things? How is becoming (genesis) different in living and non-living things? How are living things self-actualizing?
How is human self-actualization distinct from the self-actualization of plants and animals?
Why does Aristotle think that eudaimonia comes from virtue (arête) rather than from pleasure or wealth? What does virtue entail?
How do people today, in contemporary American society, tend to think of “happiness”? What might Aristotle think about such notions of “happiness”?
You should incorporate as many of the following terms as possible into your discussion: matter (hyle), form (eidos, morphe), substance (ousia), causality (aitia), efficient causality, final causality or purpose (telos), soul (psyche), virtue (arête), “the golden mean,” habit, friendship (philia)
Support your discussion with at least five (5) references to the writings of Aristotle as contained in Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy. Remember that the main purpose of this examination is to test how conscientiously you have attempted to read and interpret the assigned texts for yourself, in conjunction with class lectures. So, demonstrate to the instructors that you have done so.
What might Aristotle think about such notions of happiness?
