Single Idea 99

[catalogued under 22. Metaethics / C. The Good / 3. Pleasure / c. Value of pleasure]

Full Idea

Happiness is not amusement; it would be paradoxical if we toiled and suffered all our lives just for that.

Gist of Idea

If happiness were mere amusement it wouldn't be worth a lifetime's effort

Source

Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1176b28)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Ethics (Nicomachean)', ed/tr. ThomsonJ A K/TredennickH [Penguin 1976], p.327


A Reaction

So he promotes contemplation above pleasure as the end of life, on the grounds that it motivates a lifetime of effort? Maybe happiness is quite easy for a lot of people.