CHR 305 The Good Life Essay

In Tuesdays with Morrie there are many important life lessons; in fact there are so many that it was hard to choose the three that I thought were the most important. In order to pick just three I had to think about the lessons I need to focus on in my life, the lessons I need to remind myself of daily. Everyone needs reminders in their daily lives to keep them going and remind them of what is important. Life gets busy, and I often times lose focus of what is truly important and the lessons in Tuesdays with Morrie was the reminder I needed to slow down and focus on what is important in life.

The Christian world view on life meaning and purpose is basic and yet different from other world views. Our main resolution in life is to work for God and have a strong connection with him at all times. First and foremost God desires to come first, and all else will tumble into place as long as we believe in him and have complete faith in him also. It is printed that we can only have one master (Matthew 6:24) and for that reason, God believes that serving him must be the highest significant thing for us to do with our period here on earth. (Christian Bible Reference Site)

5. What is your basis of ethics? My basics of ethics was taught by my grandma she instilled a lot of her values and morals in my life giving me the teachings that made her a bright woman. She made sure to start on me early by getting me involved in church and helping me understand my religion and god and what he expects from his people. I was told to become a leader and not a follower use gods power that he using in my life to restore and help those who may be broken in life. I always ask god if I’m unsure I understand in this world of many temptations we may fall but our god isn’t a judging god and will be there with open ears and arms to help you get it right if you want change. I am not perfect but I pay attention I know right from wrong and know I am help accountable for my actions and faults. And have god move in my

I believe the definition of a good life can be described in three simple words, freedom, love, and happiness. Freedom: we should be able to choose where we live, work and what we do with our lives. Love: everyone should know what it feels

Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a person’s monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for “their” loss.

The movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, has the protagonist named George Bailey. In this story line, God is talking to one of his angels and He tells this angel that his job is to prevent this man from killing himself and to save him. God then goes and shows this angel part of George’s life that was very significant. In the end, we see George Bailey at present time and we see that he is at one of his lowest points ever.

The concept of living “the good life” means something different for everyone. There is a general understanding that living “the good life” is associated with unyielding happiness and lasting satisfaction. The exact meaning of this desired life was pondered by thinkers and philosophers for hundreds of years. They constructed principals of behavior, thought, and obligation that would categorize a person as “good”. Although some of these ancient philosophies about “the good life” had overlapping ideas, their concepts varied widely. This contrast of ideas can be examined through two major characters in two famous works: Aeneas in “The Aeneid” and Socrates in “The Apology”. Aeneas exemplifies the philosophy that the direct route to “the good life" is through faith, trust in the Gods, and family, while Socrates in “The Apology” emphasizes free will, and vast knowledge of life.

The Essentials of a Good Life by Diane Ravitch was an essay that really got me rethinking what we call the school system today. It felt extremely relatable since I have spent over 13 years in school and I recognize almost all the points she made about the problems with school today. Many of her main points have to do with how schools are too focused on standardized testing and how they don’t teach creativity in school. This is a big problem in today’s society because school seems to be doing a lot less of what it was first meant to do which is prepare their students for the future. After reading her essay I believe we shouldn’t be focused on standardized testing and we should be spending more time teaching students how to be leaders, independent, and creative because these are qualities that promote success in today’s society.

Finally, “[W]hat is the essence of Christian living?” (“Evangelicalism”, Dictionary of Christianity in America) An evangelical Protestant answer may involve “serving God in one’s calling whether in secular or ecclesiastical life. All useful callings are equally sacred in God’s eyes.” (“Evangelicalism”, Dictionary of Christianity in

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s film The Lives of Other’s (2005) is set in East Berlin during the socialist reign from November 1984, up until the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. The political context plays a significance role not only in the film’s subject matter but also in its cinematography, which exploits the voyeuristic tendencies of the audience, reflecting the surveillance of the Stasi Secret Police officers. The film follows a loyal socialist and playwright, Georg Dreyman who becomes subject (along with actor girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland) to extensive Stasi surveillance due to his association with subversive artists such as Paul Hauser and Albert Jerska. Hauptman Gerd Weisler is the accomplished Stasi officer assigned to

What is the meaning of life? Well known Greek philosphers such as Socrates and Plato believed that our purpose in this life was to gain knowledge in preparation for the next life. Other Philosophers such as Epicurus believed that pleasure is the main goal in life. After giving these ideas lots of thought, I have come to my own conclusion that the true meaning of life is far more complex than either of these; far too complex for any human to fully comprehend. In fact these two different philosophies are only part of the grand picture. If it were that easy for men to figure out our lives wouldn't be so messed up now. The meaning of life revolves around many different things. I

The “good life” is a way of living that would typically be heralded as the optimum way to live ones life. The way in which the good life is lived, however, along with all the beliefs within that way of living, has been individualized between multiple different philosophers and philosophies. Firstly, John Stuart Mill for example would probably use his age-old argument of saying that the “good life” would be one where you’re happy - but with absolutely no harm caused to others. The early Christian faith belief would be simply: the “good life” is to follow Jesus. The philosophy of stoicism is a belief that the “good life” is to have strong personal traits, and strength of character. Finally, a personal belief is that the “good life” is an essentially insurmountable goal.

​Throughout history all over the world, humans have been searching for their own “good life”. What each person’s good life is and what it takes to attain that life differs greatly across all aspects of humanity, causing it to require much time and effort for each person to discover their concept of a good life. This makes sense because of the vast differences in beliefs, experiences, and opinions that also play a part in constructing a large gap in social and financial statuses. For every human the sacrifices and benefits that come with finding one’s good life are considered the cost it took to get there, and each cost has a different amount of an impact on a person’s journey. Finding a partner and love seems to be a common theme

The concept of the good life is one that comes up frequently in the PULSE program because it centers on the core beliefs of the program itself; personal and social responsibility. To me, the nature of the good life entails of knowledge, happiness, justice, and introspection. Through my exploration of the good life, I hope to clarify how I view the good life in accordance to Aristotle and Plato, but also, how I perceive the good life in general. Service is an important portion of the PULSE program, which is why the good life has to be related to it. The belief that service can lead to the good life will allow me to explore the importance of service for the good life, thus, I will be able to explore how PULSE will affect my version of the good life. By connecting the good life to my own personal life, I can clarify how it differs and how it is similar to how Aristotle and Plato defined the good life. Through this, I will be able to connect the good life to my experiences and can investigate how my experiences have influenced my version of the good life. Through my examination of Plato’s and Aristotle’s work, I hope to explain what the good life means to me, and how I hope to achieve it, in and outside of my service placement.

In today’s world, humans are often misled on what really is a good life. We are constantly shown through the television and magazines that being rich and famous is the way to go when it comes to a good life, when in truth many of them are miserable by problems that usually wouldn’t affect the common person. In truth there are only a few that are rich and famous and do achieve what can probably considered one of the greatest achievement’s by a man which is having a good life. In my opinion, the decision if someone has a good life or not is up to them and their will to strive for something better than average during the high school years of their life. The reason I feel like it begins at that age in their life is