Abstract

Ethics is generally described as a faculty from which behaviors emanate. Ethics is a field of study that is concerned with the powers from which human behaviors emerge, their impacts on these behaviors, and what determines what is good and bad. Therefore, ethical teachings can be divided into two: teleological and deontological. According to teleological ethics, the ethical value of an action is determined by its intentions and consequences. Proponents of this perspective have pondered how a good and happy life should look like and what it takes to attain happiness as a result of one‟s actions. Happiness, as one of the important concepts of philosophy, is the most fundamental goal in teleological ethics. Hence, happiness is a goal pursued for its own sake and is never seen as a means to any other end. Eudaimonistic philosophers consider the attainment of virtues as a prerequisite to happiness. In this view, happiness is attained when virtues become habitual. This view, which can be traced back to Plato, has also been embraced by Islamic philosophers. One can reach the greatest happiness through the attainment of the three virtues corresponding to the components of soul, together with their sub-virtues: wisdom, chastity and courage. Moreover, the attainment of these three virtues brings about the virtue of justice. Based on these four fundamental virtues, ethics philosophers consider the pursuit of happiness as the ultimate goal in one‟s life and argue that the greatest happiness can be reached through the attainment of these virtues. Not only do virtues direct individuals to the pursuit of happiness, but they can also help individuals attain happiness. Thus, the desired level of real happiness can be reached by doing virtuous acts. The first part of the present study focuses on how ethics philosophers explain an interpret happiness and whether it is possible to reach real happiness. In the second part, the virtues that ethics philosophers view as the fundamental elements in attaining happiness. Also, this section examines the definition of virtue, virtue types, sub-virtues, and the characteristics of virtuous acts. Consequently, this study disclosed that ancient and medieaval philosophers regarded the pursuit of happiness as a fundamental goal in one‟s life, and that these philosophers agreed that this goal could be accomplished by leading a virtuous life.