"Everything happens for a reason"

When thinking of the concept of determinism my mind came across the clique "Everything happens for a reason." Thinking of this quote made me question the meaning behind cliques like this one. People often use "everything happens for a reason" as a playful saying. However, from a determinist perspective, it makes a lot of sense. We are destined to do things and things are destined to happened to us because they are predetermined. Do other cliques have a logical background to them?

"Pleasure Scale" Response

I completely agree with Jenna's response to the range of pleasure, it ranges from person to person.  Human beings may all strive towards similar things, pleasure, happiness, a 'good' life.  However, the specifics of what pleasures, what makes up happiness, what makes someone feel as if they have had a good life, are all different.  I believe everyone's mind is made up differently and what you love or what you have determined is human nature will lead to that individuals happiness and a full 'good' life. 

Emotion as a Telo

As I was reading this week's chapter, I came across a hypothetical question about Aristotle's view on a human being's telo: If according to Aristotle our sole purpose as human beings were to reason, would an individual not be reaching their full potential of happiness if they lived a life of emotion? Even if that was their 'telo?'

If one were to lead a life solely based on their emotions, based on love, sadness, excitement, would they be living the right way, according to Aristotle? My attempt to answer this would center around another question, Would a person who believes that emotion is a tool for reason actually be living a knowledgeable and good life?  These type of questions are hard to answer. Yes, how to reason is up to the individual or no there is only one way to reason?