On the Relationship between Virtue and Happiness in Aristotle’s Ethics

幸福作为重要的问题，从古希腊的先贤梭伦与吕底亚的国王克洛苏斯展开关于幸福的对话开始，迄今为止已经有两千多年的历史了。人们对幸福的渴望以及幸福真谛的探讨经久不衰。人在反复思考自身存在和生活实践的过程中，不断地探求何为实践生活的最高理想和目标，何为人生的真正价值和意义。人生之福与伦理之善何为优先，人之自由究竟是罪还是福，自由与快乐、幸福是否一致等，这种思考达到深刻思辨和严谨论证高度时，也就构成了幸福论。本文对幸福这一议题的探讨主要基于亚里士多德的伦理学，并且基于《尼各马可伦理学》的文本回答德福是否一致。The question of happiness, as a pivotal philosophical inquiry, can be traced back to the seminal dialogue between Solon the Athenian sage and Croesus the Lydian monarch in ancient Greece, spanning over two millennia of intellectual discourse. Humanity’s enduring aspiration for happiness and persistent exploration of its essence have manifested as perpetual philosophical contemplations. Through continuous reflection on existential being and life praxis, humankind has ceaselessly pursued the paramount ideals of practical living and sought to apprehend the authentic value and significance of human existence. When profound philosophical inquiries into such fundamental issues as the precedence between earthly blessings and ethical goodness, the ontological nature of human freedom (whether it constitutes original sin or divine providence), and the congruence between liberty, pleasure, and eudaimonia attain systematic rigor and dialectical sophistication, they coalesce into a comprehensive theory of happiness. This paper’s examination of happiness primarily engages with Aristotelian ethical philosophy, particularly employing textual analysis from the Nicomachean Ethics to address the classical ethical dilemma of whether virtue and happiness are ultimately reconcilable.