According to Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics,” human actions that are to be considered virtuous are those that are found in the middle ground of the possible actions given a specific situation. For example, there is being stingy or being taken advantage of on either end of the virtuous decision of being generous. Although virtuous is often confused with kindness, this is not the case in the explanation of Aristotle. He suggested that, in order to be virtuous, a person must know the exact manner in which to handle a situation at that particular time. Through this a person can be virtuous either voluntarily or involuntarily.
However, the purpose for being virtuous is to achieve happiness. In order to be successful at being a human, Aristotle suggested that an individual must form strong relationships. This comes from being virtuous and therefore the act of virtue is, in itself, a selfish act. This is somewhat contradicting and confusing in terms of what most people consider to be virtuous. Selfishness is on the opposite side of selflessness and to be virtuous one must remain on middle ground. Therefore, the mere attempt to become virtuous is actually not a virtue.
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"Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics”".
The contradictory nature of Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics,” suggests that the philosophy was still a work in progress at the time that Aristotle wrote this work. The points that explained that everything has a meaning that eventually ends with the search of one’s personal happiness seems to state that true virtue is unattainable. However, many of the individual possibilities of virtuous behaviors are explained to be practiced until they become habit which makes the person rather than the action virtuous. The conclusion drawn is that an individual can act virtuously but can never truly be completely virtuous.
