Aristotle: “The human good is…”

Source and attribution

The archive attributes this English wording to Nicomachean Ethics I.7 and files it under Peripatetic School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

About Aristotle

Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher born in Stagira in Macedonia, the son of a court physician. At about seventeen he entered Plato’s Academy in Athens and remained associated with it until Plato’s death in 347.

Interpretation

This is Aristotle's answer to the question the Ethics opens with. His method is to identify a function distinctive to human beings and then ask what doing it well would be; the answer is activity of soul in accordance with virtue. Two features matter: happiness is an activity rather than a state you can possess, and it spans a life rather than a moment. The definition excludes both pleasure and honour, which he examines and sets aside as incomplete.

Why it matters

The demanding part is that it is an activity. On this account you cannot have achieved it while at rest, and a single good period does not settle it.

Concepts in this quote

Happiness: Happiness—or flourishing—is a central aim in ethics: what makes a life go well, and whether pleasure alone is enough.
Virtue: Virtue names excellences of character—habits of perception and action oriented toward the good.
Action: Action concerns agency: what it is to do something intentionally, and how thought becomes practice.

How to cite this quotation

APA: Aristotle. (n.d.). The human good is activity of soul in accordance with virtue. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0010

MLA: Aristotle. “The human good is activity of soul in….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0010.

Chicago: Aristotle. “The human good is activity of soul in….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0010.

Frequently asked questions

What is the source of the quotation “The human good is activity of soul in…”?

The passage is attributed to Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics I.7. The archive attributes this English wording to Nicomachean Ethics I.7 and files it under Peripatetic School. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.

What does Aristotle mean by happiness?

Greek eudaimonia, Buddhist analyses of craving, utilitarian happiness, and modern well-being research all contest the meaning of a good life. This passage enters that discussion through happiness, virtue, action.