Thursday, April 10, 2008

Aristotle vs Maslow vs Nike

"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write,
if he is to be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.
This is the need we may call self-actualization ... It refers to man's
desire for fulfillment, namely to the tendency for him to become
actually in what he is potentially: to become everything that one
is capable of becoming ..."


I believe Maslow’s self-actualization theory and Aristotle “Good Life” theory had common ground! Aristotle said that genuine happiness lies in actions that lead to virtue. Therefore, we are naturally attracted to preferences for engaging in pleasant activities. We like to do what makes us happy. Maslow’s theory falls along the same line; a man is most happy when he is doing all he can to become all he can.

According to human nature, one can attain happiness by buying a product. Like a car or house or something of great value. On the other hand, this happiness is not long- term without other attributes. Man will feel for a while that he is experiencing happiness after buying a product, but it is just an illusion.

I think that advertising alone has to sell products and make people feel that they will reach complete happiness. That is how they make their money