Aristotle's Ethics
What is the point of doing anything?
Everything we do is done for some purpose. Some of these purposes though are themselves just means to an end, e.g. we exercise to get in shape and we get in shape because we want to look good on the beach and we want to look good on the beach so that....etc. If every end were just a means to some other end, though, then there would really be no end or purpose to all that we do. If there is no ultimate point (end or purpose) to everything we do, then ultimately there is no point to anything we do. That cannot be right, Aristotle thinks. So there must be at least one end that is not a means but is an end in itself. This is the ultimate point of life, and Aristotle sets out to find and define it.
What is this ultimate goal? Happiness (or eudaimonia, literally "a good life"), pretty much everyone agrees. But people disagree about what true happiness is. Most think it is pleasure, especially physical pleasure. But can't we do better than this? A life with no good in it except physical pleasure seems fit for an animal, but not a human being. Others think a good life is one of public service. But people go into public service either to make a name for themselves (what Aristotle calls "honor") or else out of virtue. Reputation is a superficial concern and can be lost or gained in a moment through no fault of one's own, just changing public opinion or fashion. Even virtue or having a good character does not seem to guarantee happiness, because a person of good character might never really do anything much, and might suffer terrible misfortune. For instance, think about the events of September 11th. Many heroes emerged that day, but if the attacks had not occurred these heroes might never have done any heroic deeds. Their character would remain the same, but their moment of great service would not have existed. Also think about the virtuous people who died in the attacks. Would you really say they had good lives, despite being murdered in the prime of their lives?
Money cannot be the ultimate end since it is a means to other things. So perhaps the best life is the life of the mind, like the life of Socrates or God, according to Aristotle. At this point he has not made up his mind or come to any firm conclusion, but this is how things look to him at first.
What about Plato's idea that the ultimate end is the Form of the Good? No, says Aristotle. Good things (pizzas, days in the sun, touchdown passes, philosophy essays, deeds, etc.) are too various to have any single essence in common. Besides, it is not Goodness-in-itself that we want but goodness for human beings.
What could the ultimate end or goal be for us? If it is ultimate it must be both a) the reason why we do everything that we do and b) complete, so that whoever has it has everything they need. Happiness fits the bill.
The value of character
It will help if we can figure out the function, the characteristic activities, of human beings. After all, a good pizza is one that does well (tastes good) what a pizza characteristically does (tastes). Since we are talking about what makes a good human life we must be talking about some activity (since activity separates the living from the dead). And since we are talking about human life we must be talking about something involving reason (since it is reason that separates humans from other animals).
There are three types of good things:
1. External goods, e.g. friends, money, and other things that exist outside ourselves
2. Goods of the body, e.g. health, good looks, etc.
3. Goods of the soul/mind, i.e. virtues (desirable traits of character and intellect)
External goods and goods of the body are basically means to an end, so goods of the soul are "goods most fully". True happiness requires goods of all kinds in a complete life, but goods of the soul above all. A happy person will have a character that is well-formed and constant.
Virtues are praiseworthy states of character or soul/mind. These fall into two categories. Virtues of thought or intellectual virtues are what make someone smart, e.g. comprehension, prudence, memory, etc. Moral virtues are what make someone moral or ethical, e.g. generosity, self-control, courage, etc. Moral virtues must be learned by habitual practice. "We become just by doing just actions, brave by doing brave actions." Vices are acquired in the same way, i.e. by habitual practice. If our upbringing is done right the we will (usually) get pleasure from doing good deeds and pain from doing bad deeds. Doing the right thing is not usually a chore for people of good character.
Virtues are those traits admired by good people and that help us to perform our natural function, i.e. to live rational, social lives.
The right thing to do is usually a mean, or really just a middle way, between two extremes. In battle you should be neither too cowardly nor too rash. Exactly what one should do, though, depends on the circumstances (e.g. who you are, who you are dealing with, what else is going on or needs to be done, etc.). There is not a mean to be sought in every case. Adultery and murder are always wrong, for instance.
Excuses
Some things are wrong, indeed, even if done under duress. Acts done under threat are somewhat, but only somewhat, involuntary, since there is the option of accepting whatever is threatened (or perhaps of trying to fight the threatener, etc.). Ignorance of what is right is also no excuse.
Ignorance of fact might be an excuse, but not if the ignorance was your own fault. Even if it was not your fault, you are blameworthy if you fail to feel the proper regret after doing something bad.
Having a bad character is no excuse either, since our characters are formed by the actions we voluntarily do.
True happiness
The ultimate goal in life must be complete and unable to be improved upon. It cannot be pleasure, since something that is pleasurable can be improved upon if it is also good for you, for instance. Not all pleasure is good, and not all good things bring pleasure. So pleasure is part of a complete life, but not the main ingredient.
True happiness is a life of activity in accordance with virtue.
Which activity? Thinking. This is the most godlike activity, it is what distinguishes us from other animals, and it is a self-sufficient activity.
The best life of all, then, is the life of understanding.
Second best, and most human, is the life of public service.
To achieve a good life philosophy can help, but we need a good upbringing and a good society, with good laws, in which bad people are punished.
Politics
It is natural to want children and therefore for men and women to live together in families. It is natural for families to combine to form villages and for these villages to form states. So the state is natural. "Man is by nature a political animal."
There is also a "social instinct" so life outside society will inevitably be frustrating.
And outside the state there is no law or justice, only savagery.
Click here for some notes on Aristotle-inspired virtue ethics.