George’s Failed Quest for Happiness: An Aristotelian Analysis (Tim's summary)
For anyone who has ever seen Seinfeld, it is quite evident that George is the loser of the show. Nearly every episode, he turns out unhappy and beaten. Through Aristotle’s views, George is not unhappy because he has bad luck or because of his appearance or failed relationships. Rather, George is unhappy because of his atrocious reasoning skills and his decision-making based on emotions.
Aristotle valued reason very highly, but he also realized that humans also have feelings, desires, and appetites. Aristotle said that these characteristics must all achieve harmony in order for man to achieve his goals. However, Aristotle thought that this harmony should be ruled by reason and feelings and desires should play a lesser role.
This state of happiness requires that we care about where we are and strive to change our place. People must care enough to reason. However, George doesn’t think he has control of his happiness, and therefore, doesn’t care about trying to change his situation. He feels that his unhappiness is determined by his misfortunes and by his friends, and he complains about his state to no end, rather than doing something about it. This comes in direct contradiction with Aristotle’s rules for happiness, who said that “(happiness) is a certain sort of activity of the soul expressing virtue,” In one episode, George realizes that his life is pathetic, and once again feels he has no control over it. He hopes that others pity him and help him out because of his deficiency of personality, “I like pity. It’s good.”
In the end, we have to admit that George’s search for happiness is doomed to fail. Over the course of the show, a full eight years, George has made no progress towards happiness. According to Aristotle, there are three main ways a person can become more virtuous, and therefore happier, through actions. Aristotle suggests we avoid the more opposed extreme, avoid the easier extreme, and be careful with pleasures. George is lazy, careless, and is continuously seeks pleasure. Because these traits are so constant in George, it is difficult to see him change. In fact when many think of George, those traits are just what we think about! According to Aristotle, however, the only way George can become happier is to do just that. George must begin to act virtuously until his virtuous actions become normal to him, and he is virtuous without thinking about it. When George starts consistently making virtuous decisions, then and only then can George become a happy and more complete person.