The Philosophy Of The Good Life

Only when these two aspects of the soul are engaged can one be closer to achieving happiness. Aristotle refutes elitist thinking by stating that all people have the capacity to reason within the soul. The good and bad characteristics in people come from the kinds of activities that they desire to undertake. Aristotle also generally defines the good life as simply doing what one wants to do, but happiness can only truly be achieved when one desires to do the correct things.

The concept of living “the good life” means something different for everyone. There is a general understanding that living “the good life” is associated with unyielding happiness and lasting satisfaction. The exact meaning of this desired life was pondered by thinkers and philosophers for hundreds of years. They constructed principals of behavior, thought, and obligation that would categorize a person as “good”. Although some of these ancient philosophies about “the good life” had overlapping ideas, their concepts varied widely. This contrast of ideas can be examined through two major characters in two famous works: Aeneas in “The Aeneid” and Socrates in “The Apology”. Aeneas exemplifies the philosophy that the direct route to “the good life" is through faith, trust in the Gods, and family, while Socrates in “The Apology” emphasizes free will, and vast knowledge of life.

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, at an absolute basic sense, aims at the title of this course: the good life. In an age where philosophy and ethics were not largely developed, Aristotle aims to provide a universal standard for human flourishing and happiness, or the good life. His main argument is that all of our actions and goals are aiming towards human flourishment, but that each action falls into a range of virtues, where excess is one extreme and deficiency is the other extreme. The virtue that we all strive for, he states, is in the middle of these. For example, temperance is a universal human virtue, with pleasures and pains as the excess and deficiency. He states that virtues can be developed and learned over time and through practice,

Joel Kupperman in Six Myths about the Good Life: Thinking About What Has Value evaluates that humans as a whole want more comfort and pleasure in life as he it “may represent a tendency that is wired into normal human nature” (Kupperman 1). Through the explanation of pleasure as well as its arguable counterpart, suffering and the discussion of their values in addition to the counterargument of hedonic treadmill, Kupperman’s views about the role of pleasure in living a good life can be strongly supported and evaluated.

The texts of Socrates and Confucius examine what it means to live the good life. Although, the texts have similarities, especially in clarifying what the good life isn’t, their philosophies on how to obtain the good life differ greatly. Additionally, the two texts are even ambiguous on what living the good life truly means, so it is first necessary to identify what the good life is.

Aristotle is an ancient Greek philosopher who has played a part in subjects such as mathematics and ethics. As a known student of Plato, Aristotle’s knowledge on various topics immensely affected people’s philosophical views. For Aristotle, his definitions of human happiness and a good life consist of being virtuous all throughout life. Happiness comes from being an overall good person; this is “the best way to lead a life and give it meaning” (Psychology Today). According to Aristotle, happiness is a continuing achievement. “Happiness is more a question of behavior and of habit—of ‘virtue’—than of luck; a person who cultivates such behaviors and habits is able to bear his

The Good Lives Model (GLM) is a modern theory of offender rehabilitation that pays as much particular attention on the offender as the offence itself. Its main focus is to provide individuals with the resources they need to live a “good life”. Not just a good life for its sake, but the type that is worthwhile and satisfying to the point that the individual would not have to think of or get involved in harming others again. The Good Lives Model (GLM) is a contemporary theory- it started as an… about a decade ago. Since then, it has become very popular among the correctional practitioners work in the rehabilitation of offenders in many jurisdictions

If you asked a random person on the street “what is a good person?” or “what is the good life?” you would likely receive a different answer from everyone. These answers would be different because everyone has their own ideas and opinions of what the answers should be. For many, a good person is someone who lives a good life, is a Christian, or someone who helps other individuals. For some, a good person might be someone who puts others first and someone who is reliable. The same applies to the answers you would receive from “what is the good life?” Just like everyone had different opinions on what a good person is, they will also have different opinions on what the good life is. You might get answers ranging from spending time with one’s family to having a lot of money. These answers vary depending on the individuals values and world view. For some individuals this desire for money can cause them to act on it, driving them to steal in order to gain happiness. Bronk supports this idea by stating, “Our answers guide our actions, influence our decisions, and inspire our dreams” (2008, p.713). This paper will discuss how philosophers believe everyone should live and what kind of people we should be, what a good person is, what the good life is, and what the relationship between goodness and human reality is.

The Greek philosophers were particularly interested in the idea of eudemonia. The concept translates to the idea of “The Good Life,” but can be more accurately understood to mean a state

Aristotle wondered what made a good life. When Aristotle asked others what made their life good, the answer always included happiness. Aristotle wanted to create a way for people to look at their lives and use knowledge to judge what happiness is.

In Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, every point, every major idea, and every argument made, is all connected back to the concept that every action seeks an ultimate good. Aristotle felt that there is an intrinsic good that humans aim for and that there is this "good life" we all mean to have. However, what does it mean to be good? That means something different to everyone; we all inhabit many different roles in our day to day lives, whether we strive to be a good parent, a good sibling, a good student, a good citizen, or a good leader. All emphasize the importance of our own well-being, as well as that of others, and the greater community as a whole. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will

We as humans find ourselves in a constant pursuit of a life stable enough to provide a certain degree of control and self-sufficiency while also remaining open to the possibility of circumstances which are not entirely under our control, such as love. To recognize the beauty of the mysteriousness and uniqueness associated with love, a force we cannot control, while also maintaining a certain degree of self-sufficiency may possibly allow us to live a good life with a love immune to tragedy. The idea of what constitutes the “good life” can be categorized in two contrasting perspectives: a life of goods or a life of self-sufficiency. A life of goods including wealth, reputation, and honor proves itself to be seriously vulnerable to circumstances beyond the control of the agent. For example, the agent cannot control the social or economic class they are born into. Similarly, they cannot control the way others view them. Although one may seek the approval of others, they have no control over whether or not they actually receive it. On the other hand, a self-sufficient life revolves around wisdom, truth, and the best possible state of one’s soul. The self-sufficient “concern [themselves] with the pleasures of learning, and adorn [their] soul(s)… with its own ornaments, namely, moderation, righteousness, courage, freedom, and trust” (Phaedo, 114e-155a). Whichever version of a good life one chooses to live by, love undoubtedly serves as a component of the flourishing life. The

What is the good life? This is a question that many Christ at the Core classes have attempted to answer this semester. There is no objective answer to this question and this is why it is so difficult to deal with. However, by looking at life in Christ, we as Christians can more easily answer this question. In this paper I will attempt grow closer to an answer for the questions “What is the Good Life?”, discuss what it means to have life in Christ, and articulate how life in Christ informs answering “What is the Good Life?”. Through the use of readings used throughout the semester, I will also tie in how family life impacts the way we live the Good Life.

What is a good life? What is the goal to achieve in any decision? Each area of human activity has a primary goal. Example, the end result or goal of education is learning, as well as the goal of agriculture is food production. W.D Ross translated a work on ethics called “Nicomachean Ethics”, to where he states “there is some end to the things we do, which we desire for its own sake, and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (the process would go on to infinity, so our desires would be empty and vain)”. Meaning happiness can come from completing a task, having a task, or working towards the next task. But if we do not choose a desired thing or feel as if we have worth we cannot find happiness. Aristotle is a philosopher partly recognized for his work around 350 B.C.E relating towards human nature and the search of a good life. He wrote the work on ethics referenced earlier called “Nicomachean Ethics”; these pages contain many chapters/books which are read in everyday life by people as well as taught in philosophy courses throughout the world because of its accuracy and relevance.

A popular saying is “live life in the moment.” People believe that by doing this, they will live life to their fullest potential, and this will lead to the good life. This is a good theory, but it is not actually a good idea to life live this way. This is shown by both Herodotus, The History the story of Solon and Croesus, and by the Mike Webster Sports Injury series by Greg Garber. In both of the texts, the fictional Croesus, and the real life Mike Webster both lived their lives “in the moment,” and they actually provide the most significant horrible warnings to show what is not the good life. By living in the moment, neither of these two actually thought about the future while they were living their good lives. If they had thought about the future, and the repercussions that could happen if their way of life was ended, then they may have been able to avoid the inevitable fall that both of them faced. Webster and Croesus both lived the good life for a time, and through both of their stories, we can see that to truly have lived the good life, one must die living it.