CHAPTER 8

THE GOOD LIFE

CHAPTER OUTLINE
 The concept of being good
 The good life
LEARNING OUTCOMES
 At the end of this chapter, the students
should be able to:
◦ Describe what good life is;
◦ Examine shared concerns that make up the good
life considering ethical standards in order to
determine appropriate decisions to contemporary
issues.
“The good life is a process, not a state of
being. It is a direction, not a destination.”
 Carl Rogers, American Psychologist
(1902 – 1987)
 Martin (2012)
◦ Defined happiness as loving one’s life and valuing it
in ways manifested by sufficient enjoyment and a
robust sense of meaning.
◦ Achieving happiness and man’s own desire and
needs commonly gives essence for living a good
life. In particular, moral decency and goodness,
authenticity, mental health, self-fulfillments, and
meaningfulness describe it.
 The concept of how good life would be,
depends in the personal decision of man.
 It is evident in our modern society that man’s
personal decision and ideas- idea of
progress, happiness, beliefs, expectations,
attitude, and feelings- are directly affected by
convenience and benefits brought about by
science and technology. (Dotson, 2012)
 Every human being aspires to live a good life.

Conversely, man’s idea of “good life” differs

in many dimensions.
THE CONCEPT OF BEING GOOD
 “Good”
◦ commonly used interchangeably with the term
“right”.
◦ Traer (2007) explained that the adjectives good and
right are related in meaning, but are not synonyms.
◦ Being good involves having the character and
personal qualities that were justified by reason as
having moral worth. (Traer, 2007)
 Morals refer to an individuals own principles regarding
right and wrong.
 “Right”
◦ Taking the right action means correctly applying a
norm, premise, presupposition, rule, standard, or
law.
◦ This explains that the term “right” reasons are
THE CONCEPT OF BEING GOOD
 In Aristotelean view, “the understandability of
the good is based on the idea of what is good
for the specific entity under consideration”.
◦ As Younkins (n.d.) expounded, that this view of
Aristotle states that the good is what is good.
◦ For Aristotle, the good is what is good for
purposeful, goal-directed entities.
◦ Aristotle defines the good proper to human being
as the activities in which the life functions specific
to human beings are most fully realized. (Paragraph
33)
THE CONCEPT OF BEING GOOD
 In Aristotelean view, “the understandability of
the good is based on the idea of what is good
for the specific entity under consideration”.
◦ It acknowledges the fact that human being is
edowed with his own rational method and free will.
◦ Timbreza (2008), as elucidated by Gripaldo (2013),
explained that in natural ethician’s view, “good is
that which is suitable to and proper for human
nature.
◦ Whenever it is not proper for human nature, it is
bad and must be avoided.” Acting rightly means
doing the right thing based on the voice of
conscience, otherwise, feeling of guilt, self-
reproach, and remorse will be felt.
THE CONCEPT OF BEING GOOD
 In Aristotelean view, “the understandability of
the good is based on the idea of what is good
for the specific entity under consideration”.
◦ Follows that a person, as a human being, has his
own consciousness of function, survival, and norms
of having the life he envisioned.
 Considering the aspect of human nature, the
term “good” denotes a more objective
meaning of “a state or a way of being”.
THE GOOD LIFE
 The meaning of the term is vague up until the
present times.
 Socrates declared that, “The unexamined life

is not worth living for”, the idea of worthwhile

living should be filtered with experience and
vice versa.
 Aristotle (being the student of Socrates)
◦ Viewed the good life as a life of relationships. It is
the nature of man to seek good life with and for
others rather than experiencing it by himself.
◦ Further elucidated the idea of relating the essence
of happiness to achieving well-being and
experiencing good life.
THE GOOD LIFE
 Steve Mueller (2016)
◦ Founder of Planet of Success
◦ Defined the term as “A (desirable) state that is
primarily characterized by a high standard of living
or the adherence to ethical and moral laws… As
such, the term can both be understood as the quest
for wealth, material possessions or luxuries and the
quest to create a worthwhile honest and meaningful
existence. (Paragraph 5)
 Martin Heidegger
◦ an existentialist philosopher
◦ has a different view on the aspect of life.
THE GOOD LIFE
 Martin Heidegger
◦ Dealt more on how we live an “authentic life” rather
dealing with the “good life”.
◦ living an authentic life means living with deep
acceptance on the facticity of “death” and resulting
to a “life lived according to what was clearly
decided as its meaning and purpose”. (Corpuz, B.;
Corpuz,R.; Corpuz-Paclibar M.L.: Paclibar, S.
(2016)).
THE GOOD LIFE
 Various scientific disciplines have devised
empirical methods for assessing subjective
states of happiness and well-being and
providing innovative and advanced
technology which promotes happy and
meaningful life for modern society.
 Science and technology has a profound

impact on how modern man thinks and

appreciates matter.
 The desire to feel satisfaction of research and

development through genetic engineering,

cloning, and the likes opened endless doors
for skeptics
THE GOOD LIFE
 The unending desire for perfection of altering
human condition and productivity, which is
somehow questionable, continues to flourish.
 The introduction of cybernetics and
nanotechnology which are considered to be
the pillars of success of harmonizing the
function of machines and living organisms
exposed the idea of achieving precise and
accurate function through it.
 The promotion of wireless technology
revolutionized the way how humans
communicate and interact. These are just
some of the conditions which suggested
THE GOOD LIFE
 Man’s varied ethical foundations may also
differentiate the idea of good life.
 Some may define it through attaining
pleasure (hedonism); others may relate it to
peace of mind through minimizing desires
and passions (stoicism) and some views are
based on professing moderate pleasure,
which for them, “anything that is taken in
excess is bad” (Epicureanism). (Timbreza,
2013)
 Thus, it’s up to the various intellectual

traditions, perspective or ethical preferences

on what the so called good life is. And the