One of the key issues in philosophy is what constitutes a moral life, which entails questions of the meaning of happiness and its importance, the definition of moral character and its necessity, conflicts between the two elements, and the question of what other elements are necessary for living a good life.
Happiness can be identified not as an element in living the good life but as the act of living the good life. Aristotle indicates this with reference to the issue of wisdom:
Practical wisdom for Aristotle is knowledge concerning the good life, what it is and how to achieve it. Moreover, for Aristotle the good life is the happy life. Everything that is good is good only so far as it leads to and is conducive to human happiness (Garrett 38).
Aristotle presented in his works a compendium of the knowledge of his time and examined issues and facts to discover how things worked, what was believed about them, and also to separate this knowledge into categories. He did not do this simply as a compiler but filtered what he found through his own sensibilities and philosophical thought. For each art, says Aristotle, there is an end to which the art tends, and the variety of smaller goals along the way are the means to achieve this end. The knowledge of the goal, the chief good, serves as a guide so that we direct our energies toward and achieve the goal. Aristotle argues that not all ends are final ends, and some are the means to other ends. Yet there has to be a final end in sight or the process would be infinite and never reach the good, the chief good that is something final. There can be only one final end, and that is the end human beings are seeking. Identifying what this is requires a consideration of its nature and the nature of competing goals. Happiness, says Aristotle, is such a goal because we always choose happiness for itself and never for the sake of something else. On the other hand, honor, pleasure, rea...