Human? What's that?

What makes us human?  Is it our ability to reason?  Our ability to make decisions?  Our written and remembered history?  Or is it something on a much deeper level, such as having honor or integrity?  What separates our species from all the others?  In summary, our ability to self-reflect, capacity to reason, purposeful behavior, and our capacity to learn (through various forms of communication, multiple perspectives, and our ability to read and write) is what separates us.

So how can we live a fulfilling, happy life?  As Aristotle discusses, we first must learn what the purpose of a human being is, and only by doing that purpose can we achieve the "supreme good of happiness."  He says that we must be more than alive, for plants are also alive.  We must have more that just senses and perceptions, for animals have them as well.  So as humans, we have reasoning and decision- making.  But only by using this ability, and using it well, can we live a fulfilling life.

So if we reason well and make good decisions, we'll be happy and have a fulfilling life?  Not exactly.  The root to happiness, Aristotle claims, is to always act appropriately.  But what is appropriate, and how to we learn to distinguish when to act and when to feel?  Our ability to learn through self-reflect, reasoning, intentional behavior, and imagine alternative futures all gives us the capacity to make decisions about out future and act on it.  It allows us, through phronesis (which tells one how to behave through practical wisdom), to differentiate between was is too much, too little, and just right.  Using an example of friendliness, phronesis tells us that completely ignoring someone may be inappropriate in some situations, but also giving someone a huge hug and a kiss on both cheeks may be inappropriate in another situation.  It tells us that small talk may be what is called for, but little else.  Phronesis explains how to live, but we need sophia (theoretical wisdom) to live well.

So living is practical, but living well is only a theory?  Not necessarily.  For example, to become patient, a person watches what a patient person does, and tries to mimic their behavior in the hopes that they will become patient.  It simply means that for someone who enjoys a certain virtue (patience, compassion, friendliness, etc.), it is easy for them to live a fulfilling life, whereas someone who has to become virtuous (learn patience, compassion, friendliness, etc.), they also must work hard at living a fulfilling life.

It's not impossible to live a fulfilling life; it's not simply a theory.  But the road to a happy life isn't straight by any means, nor is it easy to travel.  There will be many obstacles trying to block the way, but it's still possible to reach that ultimate goal, that 'supreme good'.