UNIVERSITAS PELITA HARAPAN

FACULTY OF BUSINESS SCHOOL

PROGRAM : MANAGEMENT

ARISTOTLE ON HUMAN NATURE AS “ANIMAL RATIONALE”

(PAPER REPLACEMENT FOR FINAL EXAMINATION)

Group 4 (Aristotle)

Leader: Felicia Jean 01120090043 ( )

Mutiara Anggun Bonarda 01120090122 ( )

Melissa 01120090192 ( )

Jane Jelena Budiman 01120090012 ( )

Lecturer : Laba Sinuor Yosephus

Karawaci 2010
 PREFACE

Praise be to God who has helped His children to finish this paper with His
blessing. Without His help, we may not be able to complete the paper well.

The paper is organized so that readers can expand the knowledge about Aristotle
and his theory, which we present from the observation of Aristotle's on Human
Nature theory. This paper set up by the compiler with various obstacles. Whether
it came from the compiler itself or external factors. But with patience and
especially the help of God finally this paper can be resolved.

This paper includes about Aristotle's theory about Human Nature which is one of
the ultimate way to leads for happiness (felicity). Although this paper may be less
than perfect but also has a fairly clear detail for the reader.

Authors also thank the Western Thought lecturer, Mr. Laba Sinuor Yosephus, who
has guided compiler for to understand about how we put together a paper.

Hopefully this paper can provide a broader insight to the reader. Although this
paper has advantages and disadvantages. If there's any mistake, compilers ask for
advice and criticism. Thank you.

Jakarta, November 15th 2010

Compilers
 Contents

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

1.2. Formulation of the problem

1.3. Aim and objective

1.3.1 Aim

1.3.2 Objective

1.4.Purpose

1.4.1 Academically

1.4.2 Practically

1.5. Framework

1.6. Premise

1.7. Hypothesis

CHAPTER II THEORITICAL FOUNDATION

2.1 Aristotle’s Theory of Human Nature

2.2 Man as animal rationale

CHAPTER III IMPLEMENTATION

3.1 Group opinion

3.2 Conclusion

Reference List
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

Aristotle was born at Stagira, a Greek colony of Thrace, in the year 384 B.C. His
father, a Macedonian named Nicomachus, was a physician in the court of Amyntas
II, King of Macedonia.
After the death of his parents, Aristotle's education was directed by Proxenus of
Atarneus. In his eighteenth year, Aristotle went to Athens and entered the
Academy of Plato, remaining there about twenty years, until the death of the
master.
During Plato's last years, Aristotle collaborated with the master in the revision of
his works. After Plato's death, Aristotle went to Assus, a city of the Troad, where
he lived for three years. His friendship with Hermias, ruler of the city, led to his
marriage to Pythias, the ruler's niece and adopted daughter.
About 343 B.C. Aristotle withdrew to Mitylene; during the same year he was
summoned by King Philip to the court of Macedonia to educate Prince Alexander,
then a youth of thirteen years. Aristotle remained there for three years, until the
beginning of the famous Asiatic expedition.
Alexander was grateful for the education received, and supplied his master with
the financial means to form a library and to assemble a museum of natural history
with which Aristotle enriched his school. Aristotle had returned to Athens in the
year 335. B.C., and there had opened a school in the gardens dedicated to Apollo
Lyceios.
The school was hence called the Lyceum, and also the Peripatetic School, probably
from Aristotle's custom of teacher, discussing and conversing with his pupils while
walking along the shady lanes of the garden. He taught in the Lyceum for twelve or
thirteen years, and composed the greater part of his books during that time.
In 323 B.C., upon the death of Alexander, there was reawakened in Athens conflict
between the followers of the Macedonian party and the enemies of Alexander. The
national reactionaries were led by the great Greek orator Demosthenes.
Aristotle, as a Macedonian sympathizer, was accused of impiety, which meant that
he would be called to judgment to hear the sentence of death passed upon
himself. He anticipated the condemnation and voluntarily retired to Chalcis, where
he possessed a villa inherited from his mother.
It is said that while departing for exile he uttered these words, referring to the
condemnation of Socrates: "I do not wish that Athens should sin twice against
philosophy."
His school, including the library and the museum of natural history, went to his
disciple Theophrastus. Aristotle died in 322. B.C., at Chalcis in Euboea.

1.2. Formulation of the problem

Is the concern about morality of humans affects the human happiness?

How the concern about morality of humans affects the human happiness?

1.3. Aim and objective

1.3.1 Aim

To gain information about how to achieve happiness.

To know how the concern about morality of human affects the human
happiness.

1.3.2 Objective
 To analyze whether the concern of morality affects the human happiness.

To analyze how the concern of morality affects the human happiness.

1.4. Purpose

1.4.1 Academically

To realize that Human can think rationally than the other creation.

1.4.2 Practically

Human can get their happiness through knowledge & morality.

1.5. Framework
1.6. Premise

If human wants to be happy, they must concern about morality.

Human as animal rationale

wants to get

Happiness (Felicity) :

wealth (economic need), health, knowledge, friend, etc

for their life

HOW  MORALITY

Techne Pronesis

*Techne (Technology) – non political

*Pronesis (Primarity) - political

 1.7. Hypothesis

H0 : If human concern about morality, they will not be happy.

H1 : If human concern about morality, they will be happy.

CHAPTER II

THEORITICAL FOUNDATION

2.1 Aristotle’s Theory of Human Nature

The Nature of Man.

Man is a rational animal. He is animal in his possession of a body With its physical
needs and appetites. He is rational because he has a soul. The active element of
the soul is part of the universal principle of life. This element is immortal. The
passive element of the soul is the individual personality, with memories and
thoughts relating to the experiences of life. This passive element ceases to exist
with death. The soul and body form a necessary whole for the existence of the
organism. The implications of this theory are:

• Destiny. Man has no eternal destiny. He ceases to exist as an individual

personality at death.
• Nature. The highest faculty in man is his spiritual nature. Man acts
according to his nature when he subordinates his physical appetites to
reason.

ETHICS.
 a. Happiness. The highest good to which man may aspire is happiness. A
truly happy life can be assessed only upon its completion.

b. Naturalism. A man lives happily when his actions are in accordance with
his nature. Man's spiritual nature is superior to his physical nature. The
highest good for any man is the activity of his soul.

c. Reason. The faculty of reason, resident in the soul of man, must guide his
every action. The physical appetites must be controlled by reason. Reason,
therefore, is the source of virtue.

d. Virtue. Man uses his reason to judge between the extremes of any given
act. The middle course constitutes virtue. For example, the mean between
the two extremes of the vice of rashness (excess of courage) and the vice of
cowardice (lack of courage) is the virtue of temperate courage.

2.2 Man as Animal Rationale

MAN A THINKING ANIMAL

Man fits into the scheme of nature as a "thinking animal". The mind, that which
distinguished man as a rational being, is "incapable of being of being destroyed." It
is a special part of the psyche or soul which in turn is the animating force of the
body. The soul is the body's "form", and unlike Plato's soul, does not have an
existence separate from the body. Thus it does not survive the death of the body.
Yet it possesses both actuality and potentiality, and is the efficient, formal and
final cause of the body. That is, it has a goal or end, and carries within it the
means to that end.

MAN A POLITICAL ANIMAL

Man is also a "political animal". By this, Aristotle means Man lives best in a "polis",
the city-state form of the Greek state. That is, he is characterized by living within
a society with laws and customs. Man best fulfills his potential and natural end
within a social context. This is the "good life". This is not a life of ease, but a life
of virtue which results in the highest good, eudaimonia, or having a good spirit,
often translated as happiness.

THE GOOD LIFE

Happiness as the Ultimate Purpose of Human Existence

One of Aristotle’s most influential works is the Nicomachean Ethics, where he

presents a theory of happiness that is still relevant today, over 2300 years later.
To be an ultimate end, an act must be self-sufficient and final, “that which is
always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else,” and it must be
attainable by man. Aristotle claims that nearly everyone would agree that
happiness is the end which meets all these requirements. It is easy enough to see
that we desire money, pleasure, and honor only because we believe that these
goods will make us happy. It seems that all other goods are a means towards
obtaining happiness, while happiness is always an end in itself.

The Greek word that gets usually gets translated as “happiness” is eudaimonia. For
Aristotle, however, happiness is a final end or goal that encompasses the totality
of one’s life. It is not something that can be gained or lost in a few hours, like
pleasurable sensations. It is more like the ultimate value of your life as lived up to
this moment, measuring how well you have lived up to your full potential as a
human being.

The Hierarchical View of Nature

If we look at nature, we notice that there are four different kinds of things that
exist in the world such as:
Mineral: rocks, metals and other lifeless things. The only goal which these things
seek is to come to a rest. They are “beyond stupid” since they are inanimate
objects with no soul

Vegetative: plants and other wildlife. Here we see a new kind of thing
emerge,something which is alive. Because plants seek nourishment and growth,
they have souls and can be even said to be satisfied when they attain these goals

Animal: all the creatures we study as belonging to the animal kingdom. Here we
see a higher level of life emerge: animals seek pleasure and reproduction, and we
can talk about a happy or sad dog, for example, to the extent that they are
healthy and lead a pleasant life

Human: what is it that makes human beings different from the rest of the animal
kingdom? Aristotle answers: Reason. Only humans are capable of acting according
to principles, and in so doing taking responsibility for their choices.By reasoning
things out we attain our ends, solve our problems, and hence live a life that is
qualitatively different in kind from plants or animals.

Definition of happiness by Aristotle:

…the function of man is to live a certain kind of life, and this activity implies a
rational principle, and the function of a good man is the good and noble
performance of these, and if any action is well performed it is performed in accord
with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, then happiness turns out to be
an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue. (Nichomachean Ethics,1098a13)

Happiness as the Exercise of Virtue

The most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a good
moral character — what he calls “complete virtue.” But being virtuous is not a
passive state: one must act in accordance with virtue. Nor is it enough to have a
few virtues; rather one must strive to possess all of them.

According to Aristotle, happiness consists in achieving, through the course of a

whole lifetime all the goods — health, wealth, knowledge, friends, etc., that lead
to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of human life. This
requires us to make choices, some of which may be very difficult. Developing a
good character requires a strong effort of will to do the right thing, even in
difficult situations.

CHAPTER III IMPLEMENTATION

3.1 Group opinion

Our group agrees that :

• The Concept of Man by Aristotle is right.

• The ultimate purpose of human life is happiness.

• Human is the only creation that can think rationally.

• Morality is important to achieve happiness in human life.

3.2 Conclusion

• The most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a

good moral character — what he calls “complete virtue.”

• To achieve happiness we have to fulfill health, wealth, knowledge, friends,

etc., that lead to the perfection of human nature and to the enrichment of
human life. We have to have a good character to make choices which
sometimes can be very difficult.

Reference List