Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Our modern world has also shown us that human actions have much more far-reaching and complex effects than have been previously thought. We have become so aware of these complexities, in fact, that in our most rational moments we human beings can admit that we do not know the full range of effects that our actions are having on the world. Because of this, leading the good life must also entail trying to limit the unknown and potentially negative impacts of our actions both on the environment and through all of our use and expenditure of the resources we use. Achieving the highest possible level of self-sufficiency is the most effective way to achieve this, and thus finding ways to accomplish all necessary tasks with minimal dependence on other entities and resources is necessary.
The most complex goal that human beings must strive for in order to achieve the good life is their own personal fulfillment. It is here that the uniquely human aspect of Aristotle's framework comes into play: the seeking some sense of "inner fulfillment" appears to be a uniquely human trait, and it truly seems as though there must be a moral imperative to live in a way that attempts to satisfy this drive, or else why would it exist in every...
While the other areas of the good life are about limiting the negative impacts that our presence and actions have on the world and those around us, this component is about contributing both to the world and to the self by performing fulfilling actions and refining and enhancing one's ability in areas of activity that they enjoy.
The three considerations to leading the good life, then, are: refraining from harm, becoming self-efficient, and becoming happy through fulfilling action. These three considerations should also be taken in this order; that is, one should not find a way to become self-sufficient that involves harming others (though it is hard to say what this might be), and one should not seek fulfillment through activities that are unnecessarily wasteful and fail to contribute. By keeping these three considerations in mind, however, and seeking to contribute in a fulfilling manner with increasing self-sufficiency and a lack of harm to others, the good life can be achieved.
" In other words, he philosopher advocates temperance, especially as far as emotion is concerned. This is combined with actions or "habits," as Aristotle terms them. A person who is temperate while also engaging in "good" activities or habits can then be said to be virtuous. It appears that this definition fits well with what could constitute "good" even in today's terms. A person who would disagree with the above might
.. The superior man is broad and fair; the inferior man takes sides and is petty... A superior man shapes the good in man; he does not shape the bad in him. It is said that a disciple once asked Confucius to define the conduct of one's entire life with a single word. The Chinese philosopher replied: "Is not reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself
Life After Death Introduction classical point of departure in defining Death seems to be Life itself. Death is perceived either as a cessation of Life - or as a "transit area," on the way to a continuation of Life by other means. While the former presents a disjunction, the latter is a continuum, Death being nothing but a corridor into another plane of existence (the hereafter). A logically more rigorous approach
It only remains to see how this goal may be reached -- and Kierkagaard's book on aesthetics ends with the love letter from Climacus to Cordelia, in which we learn the true approximation of life and the simple path to the aesthetic goal (a path which Don Giovanni misses): "love is everything" (p. 407). Kierkagaard states, "For one who loves everything ceases to have intrinsic meaning and has meaning only
Good Life / the Good Death: Ideas of the Greater Good and Highest Pursuit in Plato's Death of Socrates / Apology When Plato was still a boy, he witnessed the trial and execution of Socrates. Historians tell us that during the trial he attempted to speak out in defense of the great philosopher. "Plato mounted the platform and began: 'Though I am the youngest, men of Athens, of all who ever
In Book I of his Confessions, for example [Childhood], Augustine states: for my sustenance and my delight I had woman's milk; yet it was not my mother or my nurses who stored their milk for me: it was Yourself, using them to give me the food of my infancy, according to Your ordinance and the riches set by You at every level of creation. Since God is present within every human