Aristotle on Eudaemonia and Education

“There is an ideal of excellence for any particular craft or occupation; similarly, there must be an excellence that we can achieve as human beings... Only when we develop our truly human capacities sufficiently to achieve this human excellence will we have lives blessed with happiness.”

- Aristotle, Ancient Greek Philosopher

1. Introduction

What is the purpose of education? This is a question—an ongoing philosophical reflection—that the civil leader and former American First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, described as agitating “scholars, teachers, statesmen, every group, in fact, of thoughtful men and women.”[1] Roosevelt’s observation is noted herein to acknowledge the difficult activity that is articulating a universally agreed view on the purpose of education. I appreciate that there exists a diversity of teaching philosophies around the world, so this reflection is only my modest attempt at exploring what one such purpose of education (out of the many) might be, namely, the pursuit and attainment of eudaemonia. In fact, this view of education is generally thought to have emerged from the ancient Greek city states to become one of the world’s most “dominant forces in the history of educational theory.”[2] Therefore, I considered it a fascinating account of education to explore—hence, the impetus of this reflection.

As such, by reading further, the reader will encounter my exploration of what the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, thought about the relationship between eudaemonia and education. But to understand this ancient philosopher’s educational theory, the reader must first recognise that Aristotle’s thoughts are deeply influenced by—or is “inherently tied up with”—his teleological view of the universe, namely, of human nature.[3] Therefore, this reflection will begin with a re-reading of Aristotle’s view of the human person—in particular, his understanding of our ultimate purpose. Thereafter, it will explore how said understanding led him to his conclusion that education exists to help a citizenry—the inhabitants, children, and future generations of a human community—to collectively flourish, namely, to pursue and attain eudaemonia. To be clear, this reflection is not an in-depth or a technical exploration of Aristotle’s educational philosophy: I am simply endeavouring to disclose what Aristotle thought about the purpose of education.

2. Aristotle on the Ultimate Aim of Life

To begin, Aristotle observed that everything and every human activity exists for—or is ordered towards—a purpose.[4] For example, a calculator exists to perform mathematical operations; and the human activity of studying mathematics could be ordered towards achieving a particular goal, including that of obtaining high academic grades. Hence, the implicit premise of Aristotle’s educational philosophy is that everything exists for—or is ordered towards—a purpose. Therefore, life and education must have a supreme aim, namely, an ultimate purpose.

We can observe in his writings that Aristotle was primarily interested in discovering what the ultimate goal of every human activity was: the supreme good at which “all things aim.”[5] He outlined in his Nicomachean Ethics the necessary conditions of an ultimate goal, namely, that it must be self-sufficient, final and attainable: “that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else.”[6] He further observed that “there is [a] very general agreement… that it is happiness” that satisfactory meets these three criteria.[7] In other words, Aristotle recognised that most people would agree that happiness is the one common (and consistent) goal of every human activity—and in fact, is never pursued for the sake of something else. For example, a student might rigorously pursue high academic grades to experience the pleasure of achieving her personal best; or the satisfaction of receiving recognition from her teachers; or even obtaining the reward of being employed in a high-paying job—but ultimately, each goal converges on her attainment of happiness; each goal is pursued in order to make her happy. Moreover, Aristotle noted how absurd it would be to think of the pursuit of happiness as a means of obtaining some other good, simply because “such a thing happiness, above all else, is… always [chosen] for [it]self and never for the sake of something else.”[8] As such, Aristotle deduced that the supreme good of every human activity is happiness, whereby happiness is the ultimate goal of life: “Happiness, then, is something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action.”[9] As such, happiness—or eudaemonia—is our highest excellence. The medieval scholar, Thomas Aquinas, further acknowledged that all “human operations seem to be ordered to this one [happiness] as to an end.”[10]

It was necessary to begin with this re-reading of Aristotle’s teleological view of the universe, wherein happiness was clarified to be the ultimate goal of human existence, precisely because it is understood to be the same aim as that of education within the Aristotelian Tradition.[11] In other words, according to Aristotle, the purpose of education is to help us to achieve our final end—or our ultimate purpose—as a human being, namely, to become a happy person. [12] Hence, the whole purpose of an education is to help us to pursue and attain that which is most intrinsic to our human nature: eudaemonia, our happiness.[13] Thus, Aristotle wrote:

“The happy life is thought to be one of excellence… if eudaemonia, or happiness, is activity in accordance with excellence, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest excellence; and this will be that of the best thing in us.” [14]

3. Aristotle on Happiness

Before we start exploring the idea that the purpose of education is to enable the pursuit and attainment of eudaemonia, we must clarify what Aristotle meant when he referred to happiness well over 2000 years ago—simply because Aristotle’s educational philosophy could not be properly understood without first acknowledging what happiness (within the Aristotelian Tradition) entails. Now, Aristotle’s understanding of happiness was derived from his teleological view of the human person: happiness, as such, was defined by the ancient Greek philosopher as an activity of the soul, and therefore, not a subjective feeling.[15] This ancient view of happiness contradicts what seems to be modern presentations of happiness as our subjective well-being, or as the contemporary philosopher, Wayne Sumner, describes “a response by a subject to her life conditions as she sees them.”[16] Thus, it is necessary to make this important distinction, namely, that happiness is not a subjective feeling according to Aristotle: happiness is not those personal ‘feelings’ of joy, satisfaction or contentment.

I will now examine what Aristotle meant when he referred to happiness well over 2000 years ago. The proposition upon which Aristotle began his inquiry was that there existed a diversity of views as to the meaning of happiness: “… but with regard to what happiness is they [people] differ…”[17] In other words, happiness meant different things to different people. However, Aristotle was mainly interesting in discovering the ultimate happiness of the human being, namely, a universal and objective view of happiness that applied to all people. As such, by presupposing that everything existed for a purpose, Aristotle asked what the ergon—what the function—of the human being is. He henceforth contended that what separated us from all other creatures is our ability to reason. Hence, we are thinking animals according to Aristotle: “… we are seeking what is peculiar to man… There remains, then, an active life of the element that has a rational principle.”[18] As such, the principal function of the human being is precisely the excellent use of his rational abilities, namely, his thinking well and making good decisions based on reason: this is our human arête, our moral virtue. Therefore, happiness “turns out to be an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.”[19] In other words, happiness is the excellent application of our rational abilities which is exercised over the course of our lifetime, wherein we are happy insofar as we are realising and exercising our moral virtue.[20]

It was necessary to clarify Aristotle’s position on happiness, because now I can clarify that within the Aristotelian Tradition, education does not exist for the pursuit and attainment of those fleeting ‘feelings’ of happiness: subjective joy, satisfaction or personal contentment. Instead, education exists for the cultivation of virtue that makes us a happy person: our flourishing as an excellent human being, and this, is eudaemonia. As such, eudaemonia—as the term is used herein—is the kind of happiness that is our flourishing in virtue. Hence, the whole purpose of an education, according to Aristotle, is to prepare the person for the eudaemonic life, namely, the pursuit and attainment of her highest excellence; her becoming a happy and flourishing human being.

4. Aristotle on the Purpose of Education

As such, Aristotle argued that a proper education in virtue requires habituation and intellectual formation, wherein “education by habit must come before education by reason.”[21] I will now briefly explore why Aristotle was of this view that an education for eudaemonia ought to consist of these two components—habituation and intellectual formation—in this particular order.

Firstly, Aristotle argued that habituation is necessary for the proper exercise of virtue, precisely because fineness of character is produced by good habits: hence, his famous line, “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” In other words, good habits can lead to the cultivation of virtue. In fact, Aristotle was of the view that good habits—the habits of “loving what is noble and hating what is base”—ought to be formed within a person in their youth, precisely because the virtues are “bestowed on us first in a potential form, [wherein] we exhibit their actual exercise afterwards.”[22] As such, before children are ready to receive any intellectual formation—that is, before they are able to reason and make good decisions based on reason—they must first be taught those habits that will necessarily (or hopefully) incline them towards more virtuous ways of thinking and acting.

Secondly, it follows that when the child’s rational abilities develop and mature, Aristotle argued that intellectual formation thereby follows in education. He reasoned that those good habits that were formerly developed within the young person would subordinate their passions (or appetites) to the rule of reason, thereby, compelling them to make better decisions based on reason throughout the course of their lives. In other words, as a young person matures, they would be taught how to think and act within their community—they would learn the laws of their tribe. Hence, “by the time that they are old enough to ‘sit at the public tables and drink strong wine’ education will have armed them against evil influences.”[23]

Finally, we could only pursue and attain our telos—namely, our human flourishing and happiness—if we were living in a well-constructed political community. In fact, it is society—our family, tradition and culture—that sets the standard for how we ought to think and act. Hence, Aristotle’s main account of education, found in his Politics, reveal his conclusion that education “requires the special attention of the lawgiver.”[24] Hence, according to Aristotle, it is the responsibility of the state—or the raison d'etre of the government—to organise society, including its laws and education systems, in a manner that enables its citizenry to experience a happy and flourishing human life.

In essence, the ultimate purpose of an education, according to Aristotle, is to help the people of a community to excel at being a truly excellent human person: it is through an education that a person is able to develop those good habits and receive the necessary intellectual formation that would enable the pursuit and attainment of eudaemonia.[25]

5. Conclusion

To conclude, I explored herein Aristotle’s educational philosophy. I began with a re-reading of Aristotle’s view on the purpose of human existence—the life of virtue, happiness and flourishing—and clarified that it is the same goal as that of education within the Aristotelian Tradition. Henceforth, I explored how habituation and intellectual formation are the necessary components of an education in virtue, namely, our pursuit and attainment of eudaemonia. This reflection was not an in-depth or technical exploration of Aristotle’s philosophical arguments—but it was my attempt to engage the reader with the view that education exists for the formation of the truly excellent, truly happy human person. In fact, I wonder if contemporary education is active in helping our children—and her future generations—to achieve this aim. As such, I hope this reflection will prompt the reader to further reflect on the idea of human excellence, and how education could be the vehicle to achieving same. I will now conclude this work with the same quote—by Aristotle himself—that was provided at the beginning of this reflection:

“There is an ideal of excellence for any particular craft or occupation; similarly, there must be an excellence that we can achieve as human beings... Only when we develop our truly human capacities sufficiently to achieve this human excellence will we have lives blessed with happiness.”

References

[1] Eleanor Roosevelt, “Good Citizenship: The Purpose of Education,” Pictorial Review 31 (1930): https://erpapers.columbian.gwu.edu/good-citizenship-purpose-education. [2] Angus Brook, “Educating for Public Life,” in Foundations of Education: A Christian Vision, ed. Matthew Etherington (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2014), 212. [3] Brook, “Educating for Public Life,” 215. [4] Edward Clayton, “Aristotle: Politics,” The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed June 28, 2021, https://iep.utm.edu/aris-pol/. [5] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, trans. W. D. Ross (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994; Internet Classics Archive, n.d.), bk. 1, http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.1.i.html. [6] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, bk. 1. [7] Ibid. [8] Ibid. [9] Ibid. [10] Christian Stephens, “Ultimate happiness,” in An Introduction of Philosophy and Theology within Catholic Liberal Education, ed. Angus Brook (North Ryde: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015), 325. [11] Angus Brook, “What is education?: Re-reading metaphysics in search of foundations,” New Blackfriars 94 (1049): 12, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-2005.2012.01503.x. [12] Ibid. [13] Brook, “What is education?: Re-reading metaphysics in search of foundations,” 216. [14] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, bk. 1. [15] Ibid. [16] Wayne L. Sumner, Welfare, happiness, and ethics (Oxford, United Kingdom: Clarendon Press, 1999), 156. [17] Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, bk. 1. [18] Ibid. [19] Ibid. [20] Felix C. Robb, “Aristotle and Education,” Peabody Journal of Education 20, no. 4 (1943): 207, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1489937. [21] Aristotle, Politics, 8.1338b. [22] Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 1000b9-10, 1103a14-19. [23] Robb, “Aristotle and Education,” 211. [24] Aristotle, Politics, 8.1337a11. [25] Brook, “What is education?: Re-reading metaphysics in search of foundations,” 12.