Good Life

• The good life


  Happiness and virtue
• The good life


  • People have different ideas of what constitutes the good life
  • Wrong pursuits may lead to tragic consequences
  • Correct pursuits may lead to flourishing
• Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics 2:2): 'All human activities aim at some good. Every art and human inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has been rightly declared as that at which all things aim.'
• Eudaimonia


  Eu-good, daimon- spirit= good life
• The 4 Pillars of the Good Life

  • Health
  • Wealth
  • Love
  • Happiness
• Everybody wants more happiness and success
• It's good to know how to optimize happiness and success
• There is a wide agreement that happiness is the greatest human good
• The happiness pursuit becomes one's ultimate purpose in life


  The happiness pursuit is not guided by a philosophy of life informed by general principles of meaning, spirituality and virtue
• The Golden Rule

  • Confucius: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others
  • Aristotle: We should behave to others as we wish others to behave to us
  • Buddhism: Hurt not others with that which pains thyself
  • Christianity: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
• They make personal happiness and success their ultimate end of life without moral compass and without the desire to pursue inner goodness
• The world will never be enough: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing"( Eccl.1:8)
• It takes more and more to reach the same level of happiness- addiction, money etc.
• Nothing in this world can fill the spiritual vacuum within us
• Dreams are often broken when reality strikes
• Fate and Circumstance


  • Bad things happen to good people
  • Reversal of fortune
  • For some people, most days are bad days (poverty)
• Living an authentic life means living with deep acceptance on the facticity of death resulting to a life lived-Heidegger
• The unexamined life is not worth living for - Socrates
• Good people, good community and world peace= good life
• Materialism


  A form of philosophical monism which holds that matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and that all things, including mental aspects and consciousness are results of material interactions
• Classification of Materialism

  • Naive materialism
  • Dialectical materialism
  • Metaphysical materialism
• Hedonism


  A school of thought that argues that the pursuit of pleasure and intrinsic goods are the primary or most important goals of human life
• A hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus pain) but when having finally gained that pleasure, happiness remains stationary
• Stoicism


  Another school of thought led by Epicurus. The stoics espoused the idea that to generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. The path to happiness for humans is found in accepting this moment as it presents itself, by not allowing ourselves to be controlled by our desire for pleasure, or our fear of pain.
• Theism


  The belief in the existence of the Supreme Being or Deities. Describes the classical conception of God. The ultimate basis of happiness is the communication with God. Monotheism- Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism
• Humanism


  A school of thought that espouses the freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and controls. Is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively. Refers to nontheistic life stance centered on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.
• A single-minded pursuit is not always beneficial. Active engagement needs to be balanced by rest. Exclusive love needs to be balanced by greater love. Achievement needs to be balanced by acceptance. Self-transcendence needs to be balanced by fair treatment.
• Science and technology has a profound impact on how modern man thinks and appreciates matter. It can be concretely seen in the present conditions of man in the society. The desire to feel satisfaction of research and development through genetic engineering, cloning and the likes opened endless doors for skeptics.
• Virtue


  The excellence of character that empowers one to do good and be good
• Happiness


  Defines a good life
• Eudaimonia


  Refers to good spirit