LESSON 5: GOOD LIFE

• Good life


  The end goal of everything that humans do, a kind of contentment in knowing that one is getting the best out of life, a feeling that one has maxed out their potentials
• In Ancient Greece, the need to understand the world and reality was bound with the need to understand the self and the good life
• Plato's view


  The task of understanding the things in the world runs parallel with the job of truly getting into what will make the soul flourish
• Aristotle's distinction


  Theoretical disciplines (logic, biology, physics, metaphysics) aim for truth, practical disciplines (ethics, politics) aim for the good
• Every attempt to know is connected in some way to find the good or the attainment of human flourishing
• Plato's view of reality

  There are two realities - the world of forms (real, permanent) and the world of matter (changing, impermanent)
• Aristotle's view of reality


  There is no reality over and above what the senses can perceive, change is a process inherent in things, we move from potentialities to actualities
• Aristotle's view of happiness


  Happiness is the be all and end all of everything that we do, it is human flourishing, a kind of contentment in knowing one is getting the best out of life
• John Stuart Mill's Greatest Happiness Principle


  An action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of people
• Schools of thought on the good life

  • Materialism
  • Hedonism
  • Stoicism
  • Theism
  • Humanism
• Materialism


  • The world is made up of and controlled by tiny indivisible units called atoms, only material entities matter for human flourishing
• Hedonism


  • The end goal of life is acquiring pleasure, life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure
• Stoicism


  • Happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy, we should be indifferent to things not within our control
• Theism


  • The ultimate basis of happiness is communion with God, the world is a temporary reality where we must wait for return to God
• Humanism


  • Man is free to carve his own destiny and legislate his own laws, technology is employed to ease the difficulty of life and improve human lives
• Technology has allowed us to tinker with our sexuality through medical procedures and chemical alterations
• Fundamental Principles of Humanities

  • Human nature is inherently good
  • Individuals are free and can make choices
  • Human potential for growth and development is virtually unlimited
  • Self-concept plays an important role in growth and development
  • Individuals have an urge for self-actualization
  • Reality is defined by each person
  • Individuals have a responsibility to both themselves and to others