Book 1 / Chapter 11
Paragraph 1 - The Influence of Friends and Descendants on Happiness
Explanation - Part By Part
"That the fortunes of descendants and of all a man's friends should not affect his happiness at all seems a very unfriendly doctrine, and one opposed to the opinions men hold."
Aristotle argues here that the idea of completely ignoring the impact of the fortunes or misfortunes of someone's children, family, or friends on their happiness feels cold and unnatural. It goes against what most people believe—that our connections with others and their well-being inevitably affect our own sense of happiness. In essence, he’s saying it would seem callous or "unfriendly" to declare that someone's happiness is entirely unaffected by the lives of those they care about. Human relationships and their outcomes matter to us, and acknowledging that aligns with the way people naturally think about happiness.
"But since the events that happen are numerous and admit of all sorts of difference, and some come more near to us and others less so, it seems a long- nay, an infinite- task to discuss each in detail; a general outline will perhaps suffice."
Aristotle is acknowledging here that life is filled with a vast array of events, each with varying degrees of significance to us. Some events impact us deeply because they are closely connected to us, while others are distant and affect us less. Attempting to analyze or discuss every single one of these events in detail would be an overwhelming, never-ending task. Therefore, he suggests that instead of diving into every specific instance, a broader general explanation or framework will be enough to address the main ideas about how such events relate to happiness and our lives.
"If, then, as some of a man's own misadventures have a certain weight and influence on life while others are, as it were, lighter, so too there are differences among the misadventures of our friends taken as a whole, and it makes a difference whether the various suffering befall the living or the dead."
Aristotle is comparing how different kinds of misfortunes or setbacks affect a person's happiness or life. Some struggles weigh more heavily on someone’s life, while others are less significant or easier to bear. He extends this idea to the misfortunes experienced by friends or loved ones, suggesting they don’t all impact us equally either. Moreover, there’s a key distinction: it matters whether these misfortunes happen to friends who are alive (and still part of a person's active relationships) or to those who are already deceased, as this difference influences how much these events truly affect someone's state of happiness or well-being.
"(Much more even than whether lawless and terrible deeds are presupposed in a tragedy or done on the stage), this difference also must be taken into account; or rather, perhaps, the fact that doubt is felt whether the dead share in any good or evil."
Aristotle introduces an important consideration in this part: the question of whether the dead can experience or be affected by good or bad events. He compares this uncertainty to how audiences react to tragedies—where it matters whether the terrible deeds are assumed (off-stage) or directly shown (on-stage). This comparison highlights the weight we give to certain moral or emotional implications based on their immediacy and clarity.
The core point is about whether the fortunes of the living (like friends or descendants) can truly have an impact on the happiness of someone who is no longer alive. Aristotle acknowledges that people wonder if the dead can share in good or evil, suggesting the possibility that, if they are affected at all, it would be in a very minimal or distant way—perhaps more as a theoretical influence rather than a direct experience.
"For it seems, from these considerations, that even if anything whether good or evil penetrates to them, it must be something weak and negligible, either in itself or for them, or if not, at least it must be such in degree and kind as not to make happy those who are not happy nor to take away their blessedness from those who are."
Aristotle is examining whether the good or bad experiences of someone's friends or descendants after their death could affect their own happiness or "blessedness." He suggests that any such influence, if it exists at all, must be minimal or insignificant. It wouldn't have the power to turn an unhappy person into a happy one or strip away the happiness of someone who was already fulfilled in life. In essence, Aristotle is saying that while the lives of others might have some connection to the happiness of the deceased, the impact is so minor that it doesn’t fundamentally alter their well-being or character.
"The good or bad fortunes of friends, then, seem to have some effects on the dead, but effects of such a kind and degree as neither to make the happy unhappy nor to produce any other change of the kind."
Aristotle is reflecting on whether the good or bad experiences of a person's friends or descendants can affect that person's happiness after they have died. He concludes that such events may indeed have some minor influence on the dead, but only to a very limited extent. These effects are so insignificant that they cannot fundamentally alter the person's state of happiness that they achieved during their life. In other words, once someone has lived a virtuous and fulfilled life, their happiness cannot be undone or transformed by external events happening to others after their death.