•The good life

What is meant by good life?

• living in comfort and luxury with few
problems or worries characterized by
happiness from living and doing well
 What is eudimonia?
• came from the Greek word eu meaning
“good” and daimon meaning “spirit” refers to
the good life marked by happiness and
excellence. flourishing life filled with
meaningful endeavors that empower the
human person to be the best version of
himself/herself.
 •Eudaimonia,
 literally “good spirited,” is a term coined by
renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle (385-
323 BC) to describe the pinnacle of happiness
(happiness or welfare; "human flourishing or
prosperity" and "blessedness“) that is
attainable by humans.
 This has often been translated into “human
flourishing” in literature, arguably likening
humans to flowers achieving their full bloom.
• Science and Technology and Good Life S&T is
also the movement towards good life.
• S&T are one of the highest expressions of
human faculties.
• S&T allow us to thrive and flourish if we desire
it.
• S&T may corrupt a person
• S&T with virtue can help an individual to be
out of danger.
• “Life is good! It is only our thoughts, choices and
actions towards the situations we meet in life each
moment of time that makes life look bad! The same
bad situation in life that makes one person think
badly inspires another to do a noble thing!
• The same good situation in life that makes one
person feel so good to get into a bad situation
inspires another person to create another good
situation because of the good situation.
• It is all about thoughts, choices and actions! Life is
good! Live it well!” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
• One must find the truth about what the good
is before one can even try to locate that which
is good.
 THE GOOD LIFE
 According to Westacott (2018), there are three
ways by which we can understand the meaning
of good life. These are: moral life, life of
pleasure and fulfilled life.
A. MORAL LIFE
 “Good life “ – moral approval .
 They are good person, courageous,honest,
trustworthy, kind, selfless, generous, helpful,
loyal, principled and so on.
 THE GOOD LIFE
• Socrates in Gorgias – argued it is better to
suffer wrong than to do it , that a good man
who has his eyes gouged out and is tortured to
death is more fortunate than a corrupt person
who has uses wealth and power dishonorably.
• Plato - the morally good person enjoys a sort of
inner harmony whereas the wicked person, no
matter how rich and powerful he maybe or how
may pleasures he enjoys, is disharmonious,
fundamentally at odds with himself and the
world
 B. THE LIFE OF PLEASURE

• Greek philosopher Epicurus - pleasure is enjoyable ,

its fun ; is what makes life worth living .
Hedonism. People who are devoted to sex, food, drink
and sensual indulgence dominant in western culture .
Living the good life - enjoying lots of recreational
pleasures, good food, good wine, scuba diving, etc.
subjective experiences. A person is happy when they
feel good and have many “ feel good experiences “
Epicure – someone who is appreciative of food and
drink.
 C. THE FULFILLED LIFE BY ARISTOTLE

1. Virtue - morally virtuous

2. Health - enjoy good health and reasonably long life .
3. Prosperity – comfortably off (Aristotle - affluent
enough so that they don’t need to work for a living doing
something that they would not freely choose to do)
4. Friendship - good friends ; innately social
5. Enjoy respect of others
6. Need good luck, common sense
7. Exercise their unique human abilities and capacities
• Aristotle’s view of good life the activity of the
soul in accordance with virtue.
o believed that good for humans is the
maximum realization of what was unique to
humans.
o the good for humans was to reason well.
o The task of reason was to teach humans how
to act virtuously, and the exercise faculties in
accordance with virtue.
• Virtue/s behavior showing high moral standards.
"paragons of virtue" synonyms: goodness,
virtuousness, righteousness, morality, ethicalness,
uprightness, upstandingness, integrity, dignity,
rectitude, honesty, honorableness, honorability,
honor, incorruptibility, probity, propriety, decency,
respectability, nobility, nobility of soul/spirit,
nobleness, worthiness, worth, good, trustworthiness,
meritoriousness, irreproachableness, blamelessness,
purity, pureness, lack of corruption, merit; principles,
high principles, ethics "the simple virtue and integrity
of peasant life"
• Nicomachean Ethics 2:1 Virtue, then, being of
two kinds, intellectual and moral,
• intellectual virtue in the main owes its birth
and growth in teaching ( for its reason it
requires experience and time).
• While moral virtue comes about as a result of
habit
• The Virtues: Intellectual virtue theoretical
wisdom (thinking and truth) practical wisdom
understanding. Experience and time are
necessary requirements for the development
of intellectual virtue
• Moral virtue controlled by practical wisdom
(ability to make right judgment) owed its
development to how one nurtured it as habit
can be learned
• Happiness to Aristotle "Happiness depends on
ourselves.“ central purpose of human life and
a goal in itself depends on the cultivation of
virtue a genuinely happy life required the
fulfillment of a broad range of conditions,
including physical as well as mental well-
being.
• Happiness as the Ultimate Purpose of Human
Existence happiness is a final end or goal that
encompasses the totality of one's life.
• It is not something that can be gained or lost
in a few hours, like pleasurable sensations.
• It is more like the ultimate value of your life as
lived up to this moment, measuring how well
you have lived up to your full potential as a
human being.
Meaningful Life
1. Well being of Family especially children and grandchildren
2. Pursuing a particular kind of work with great dedication
(scientific research, artistic creation,scholarship)
3. Devote themselves to a cause – protecting environment
4. Immersion or engagement in a community, church and school
Finished life
Call no man happy until he’s long dead because after death that is
the only time that you will know how he live. Example: Jimmy
Saville who was much admired but a serial sexual predator.
 A good life is one that is enviable and admirable .
 GOOD MORAL LEAD US TO THE GOOD AND HAPPY LIFE
• THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF A GOOD LIFE
• TRUE HAPPINESS IS FOUND BY LEADING A
VIRTUOUS LIFE AND DOING WHAT IS WORTH
DOING.
• FEELING GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR A
GOOD LIFE.
• Each person must realize his/her potentialities
which would lead him/her to the greatest
fulfillment
 ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN ACHIEVING GOOD LIFE

• Technology support and enhance a good life for

all citizens without compromising the earths
ecosystem or the prospects of later
organization.
• Technology allowed us to tamper time and
space .
• Communication - (social media )
• Fiddle with our sexuality by injecting hormones
 Answer the following questions as brief as possible.

1. In your own opinion, what constitutes a good

life?
2. What does Aristotle say about the good life?
Does it still stand in the contemporary world?
3. How is the progress in science and technology
a movement towards the good life?
4. Why is it that everyone is in the pursuit of the
good life?
Answer the following questions as brief as
possible.
1. Define in your own words , the meaning of a
good life?
2. How can you achieve a good life according to
the article “what is the good life by Emrys
Westacott?
3. Can technology lead us to a good life
• References: https://www.quora.com/How-
does- Aristotle-argue-for-his-position-on-a-
meaningful-or-good-life https://www.pursuit-
of- happiness.org/history-of-
happiness/aristotle/