If you wonder why so many people seem completely lost, unable to make good decisions, the answer is straightforward: They have no purpose in life. They have no goals, no vision of what they want to achieve.
They are going nowhere in particular and do not care if they get there or not. Since they have no sense of direction, they are incapable of consistent action. No wonder they feel stressed.
In contrast, Aristotle placed purpose at the very centre of his view of ethics. Purpose is the magnet that enables polarization. It is the force that keeps things aligned and harmonious.
What’s the purpose of life according to Aristotle? To attain happiness (in Greek “eudaimonia”). He defined happiness as “thriving” or “flourishing,” a state of high, steady enjoyment.
According to Aristotle, a proper human life shall aim at high achievement, self-actualization, and happiness. It is not enough to just stay alive, eat and reproduce. It is not enough to pursue pleasure and entertainment.
Without purpose, it becomes impossible to attain the highest stages of joy. Happiness comes from striving to achieve crucial goals, and employing your energies and reason to reach your full potential.
For Aristotle, happiness goes beyond fleeting pleasures. You cannot randomly fall into happiness. It is a state of being that can only be earned through good decisions and actions.
Aristotle taught that every person should establish a purpose (“telos” in Greek) that is worth pursuing. Purpose enables each human being to filter out noise and distractions, and use his resources optimally.
Virtue and Aristotle’s perspective on the purpose of human life
Your purpose should be consistent with reality, in particular with human nature. Animals can have a “final cause” because they pursue simple short-term goals, but cannot have purpose. Only humans can conceptualize complex long-term goals and give purpose to their own life.
The only way to achieve one’s purpose is by taking rational decisions. Your life is an edifice and you are the architect. You need to reflect about which actions you need to take. How will you dig the foundations? How will you build the walls and the roof?
Aristotle defined ethics as the skill-set that enables humans to achieve happiness. Those skills can be of intellectual nature (curiosity, logic, knowledge) or of moral nature (the virtues of courage, honesty, benevolence, and generosity).
Note that virtues are defined simply as tools. In Aristotle’s philosophy, virtues are just means to an end. It is advisable to behave courageously and honestly because such behaviour will bring you closer to happiness.
It’s in your own interest to behave virtuously, said Aristotle, because you will be the main beneficiary. Indirectly, society as a whole is going to benefit, but you are not a servant to others.
You want to attain happiness primarily for yourself, but the world is constructed in a manner that one person’s virtue will automatically bring benefits to other people.
The golden mean and Aristotle’s perspective on the purpose of human life
In his “Nicomachean Ethics” (written approximately in 325 BC), Aristotle gives us lots of good advice about how to attain happiness: find your purpose, seek knowledge, think logically, practise courage, benevolence and steadfastness.
Unfortunately, he also makes some awful recommendations, especially, the idea that you should always seek the gold mean between two evils. He even defined virtue as the middle point between two evils.
I regard this recommendation from Aristotle as worthless. It doesn’t tell you what to do exactly, and to make things worse, it is asking you to waste your time looking for the golden mid- point between cowardice and recklessness. In that golden mean between two evils, you will allegedly find courage.
I commend you to ignore Aristotle’s golden-mean doctrine. It will consume your energies and leave you in the dark. It will create the impression of virtue, but it can lead you to perdition.
You will do much better if you adopt the rest of Aristotle’s advice, namely, establishing a challenging goal and pursuing it assiduously and rationally. That’s the best recipe for happiness.
Aristotle’s perspective on the purpose of human life compared to Plato’s
Plato (429-347) passed to Aristotle some frightful advice on happiness. It took Aristotle decades to get rid of Plato’s awful ideas and replace them by better ones. Unfortunately, the ideas preached by Plato took root in Western culture and spread like weeds during the Middle Ages.
Plato believed that life’s ultimate goal should be to cumulate knowledge about eternal, unchanging abstractions (“forms”). I fail to see how gathering abstract knowledge can make anyone happy, but Plato wrote one tract after another about his theory.
For Plato, the physical world we experience is a reflection of a perfect world made of forms such as beauty, justice, truth, generosity, compassion, etc.
In his dialogues (fictional conversations similar to theatrical plays where a few learned persons discuss abstract ideas), long paragraphs are devoted to praising wisdom and contemplation. Yet, those dialogues fail to provide useful advice. They do not tell us how to live, which goals to pursue, or how to behave.
Plato must have been conscious of the worthlessness of his advice because his recipe for happiness is totalitarianism. His book “The Republic” proposes to subject society to the whims of dictators, which he called “philosopher kings.”
According to Plato, philosopher kings are enlightened men who possess a thorough grasp of the forms. Their decisions are to be obeyed without questioning, argues Plato, because they are allegedly fair and benevolent.
Plato expects the rest of society to follow those instructions and feel happy about it. If people behave like selfless servants, argues Plato, they will feel good because the philosopher kings just want the best for everybody.
I regard Plato’s recommendations as delusions. They fail to make any sense and their implementation can only lead to deep hatred and injustice. You will do much better if you stay away from philosopher kings and follow Aristotle’s advice instead.
Aristotle’s perspective on the purpose of human life compared to Hedonism
After Aristotle’s death in 322 BC, philosophy fell into deep decadence. His theory of final causation or purpose was almost forgotten. Philosophers narrowed down their field and focused on solving pressing problems.
Aristippus and Epicurus (341-270 BC) preached hedonism as the purpose of life; the doctrine of hedonism draws its name from the Greek word “hedone,” which means pleasure.
For Aristippus, life’s purpose was to seek immediate sensual pleasure without concern for future consequences. In contrast, Epicurus identified happiness with tranquillity and inner peace rather than short-term pleasure.
Epicurus advocated “ataraxia,” which means freedom from stress and anxiety. True happiness, in his eyes, is the absence of physical and mental pain. That should be life’s purpose.
How do you achieve ataraxia? By living a simple life, free of unnecessary material desires. The fewer things you want, the less anxiety you will feel, argued Epicurus. Thus, it is wiser to seek happiness in friendships than in acquiring wealth.
Note that Epicurus had inverted the Aristotelian paradigm. Instead of favouring the pursuit of goals (purpose), he is telling people to renounce goals and content themselves with little.
Aristotle’s perspective on the purpose of human life compared to Stoicism
Stoicism offers a perspective that does not differ much from Epicurus’ views. It was founded by Zeno of Citium (335-263 BC) and favoured living in accordance with nature and reason to attain inner serenity.
The central idea of Stoicism is accepting things and events outside one’s control. Acceptance comes more easily when you relinquish your attachment to external circumstances.
Zeno preached resilience and self-control as primary virtues for attaining serenity. In addition, he recommended the practise of modesty and temperance.
Stoics emphasize the distinction between what is within our power (our thoughts, attitudes, and actions) and what’s beyond our control (external events and other people’s actions).
Happiness is attained if you focus on the former (what you can control) and don’t expect too much of the latter (what’s not under your control).
Stoics preach an unrealistic and dangerous philosophy. They overlook the key tenet of Aristotelian philosophy: causation. In the real world, happiness can only be attained through focused action. You can not become happy by avoiding pain and risk.
You will fare much better if you adopt Aristotle’s advice on the purpose of life, and steer away from the delusions proposed by Plato, the Hedonists and the Stoics.
If you are interested in applying Aristotle’s philosophy in your daily life, I recommend you my book “Sequentiality: The amazing power of finding the right sequence of steps.”
Related articles
Aristotle’s views on politics and governance
Aristotle’s views on natural philosophy
Aristotle’s view on friendship
Aristotle’s views on the nature of reality