Abstract

Karl-Heinz Nüsser:
The Good and Happiness in the Ethics of Plato and Aristotle
(FKTh 2024-2, p. 97–109)

In his book Happiness and Benevolence, Robert Spaemann started from the insight that human nature and happiness do not have to be transformed from Antiquity by us in our modern times, but are always accessible to us. Who are we to have the right to decide on the reception of antiquity? Plato’s conception of happiness, which is based on an ethical-metaphysical insight but seduces him into creating a problematic concept of the state, is corrected by Aristotle in the conception of nous, which works in unity with the human soul. The natural influence of nous can and must be brought to bear by people by directing and limiting their needs. The doctor who heals himself using the means of medicine is the role model for modern people in dealing with nature. The contemplative contemplation of the highest being, with which man has happiness in mind, is essential for this.