My Summary of the Good Life Essay

Nietzsche critiqued modern civilization since the entire scheme of modern society went against his philosophy. Nietzsche was afraid modern society and religion would bring the individuals to nihilistic voids, as they would eventually turn into uninteresting herds of controlled animals. Nietzsche wishes the individuals to achieve self-awareness, in that individuals would act upon themselves for what they truly want, instead of following the social construct. This state of achieving the higher self was defined as being the “overman”, which was achieved by redefining one 's world, in a purely personal manner. Thus in some sense, Nietzsche would agree that great men are “criminals” since they act in a way that is not deemed “good” in society and stay true to what they desire. As Nietzsche states, “A rebel can be a miserable and contemptible man; but there is nothing contemptible in a revolt as such--and to be a rebel in view of contemporary society does not in itself lower the value of a man. There are even cases in which one might have to honor a rebel, because he finds something in our society against which war ought to be waged--he awakens us from our slumber” (The Will to Power, pg 391). However, the state often suppresses these “criminals” from acting as the overman by demanding rules, which create fear and guilt and prevent individuals from heightening oneself and also prevent

The “good life” is one of stability and the failure to be affected by forces and circumstances beyond the control of the individual. This has been clearly stated beginning with Socrates, stating how each life should be lived with self-purpose: no outside influences. The artificial “goods” represent that of wealth, status, and political power, whereas what an individual should cherish is their own personal beliefs and convictions. All items that society has taught a person to hold and respect create more damage and disruption than they benefit as they can easily be taken from oneself. A fortune can be lost, the President will run out of terms, but the moral holding of each person is something that cannot be lost or stripped by a force outside

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.

Masters and slaves are constantly discussed throughout Nietzsche’s work, but the connection between them is discussed best in his book On the Genealogy of Morality. The first of the three essays outlines two alternate structures for the creation of values, which is credited to masters and the other to slaves.

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.

What is Happiness? Well, In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley (great book by the way), the people that lived in this dystopian world, called World State, had a motto/goal that they believed that it provided them happiness; “Community, Identity, and Stability.” Which basically meant that you have no individuality, so that your community has stability. In addition to that, all they did was have sex and drugs which made them oblivious to how their “perfect” society is not so perfect. They also scientifically altered how humans reproduced, so instead of being born from the womb, people were being “born” from tubes, and in those tubes, they prepare you for the job or role you will be forced to do for the rest of your life. The best part? They use

Good Afternoon Ms. McCafferty, I made this appointment because I passionately believe that the book, Life is so good written by George Dawson and Richard Glaubman should be on the Carey booklist for Year 9 students. Life is so good is a magnificent part biography, part autobiography of a 103 year old black man named George Dawson who went to school to learn to read and write when he was 98 years old.

“As soon as a religion comes to dominate it has as its opponents all those who would have been its first disciples.” Nietzsche was one of the first modern philosophers to rebel against rationalism and when World War I came about, the revolution against religion truly became a legitimate statement. Friedrich Nietzsche strongly believed that many of those that practiced religion were led to the acceptance of slave morality. Religion had always played a fundamental role in society as it sets strict boundaries and standards of what is morally correct and incorrect. However, Nietzsche claims that, “Human nature is always driven by “ ‘the will to power’ ”, but religion will tell one otherwise, saying that one should forbid their bad desires. In Nietzsche’s

In Nietzsche’s aphorisms 90-95 and 146-162 he attacks what he believes to be the fundamental basis of the “slave” morality prevalent in the Judeo-Christian tradition as well as other religions and societies. From the beginning, he distinguishes the two different types of moralities he believes to exist: the “master morality”, created by rulers of societies, and the “slave” morality, created by the lowest people in societies. The former stresses virtues of the strong and noble while looking down upon the weak and cowardly. This type of morality, however, is not as widespread as the “slave morality” that has been adopted by so many religions. Nietzsche looks through the psychology and logic of

Nietzsche’s first essay refers the nobleman as ‘master morality’ and the lower class as ‘slave morality’ (p.17). Slave morality is recognised for their creative force from ressentiment or resentment. Slave morality defines power as the evil that harms people and states good as being nice and treat each other as equal.

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.

To begin, Nietzsche starts with the story of the Farmer and the Blond beasts. It leads with a normal farming town, sufficiently living quietly on its own. At this point, you may enter the Blond beasts. These are the new, stronger, ‘better’ humans. They insert themselves into the lives of the farmers and immediately take control. Being weaker, the farmers have no choice but to bow down and obey. This new regime looks down upon the ‘slaves’ and decide that they themselves must be the good kind of humans- after all, they are more powerful. These slaves are pitiful, weak, and unable to protect themselves, therefore they must aspire to be like the masters, right? While this idea of being better is developing within the masters, the slaves are brooding over their own forming judgments. They reminisce over the life that once was- before the beasts. At this point, all the slaves know is that these powerful beings have ruined their lives and turned them into desolate beings. This feeling is what breeds this heady combination of envy, hatred, and powerlessness. In this position, the only thing the slaves are able to do is to imagine the demise of these masters. The slaves come to the realization that, even though the masters believe them to be the ‘good’ ones, they are in fact the ones perpetuating this oppression, therefore they must be the bad, or evil, ones. Here is where we see the development of Nietzsche’s two types of morality- master morality and slave morality. Master

“The slave revolt in morality begins when ressentiment itself becomes creative and gives bright to values” (Pg. 36). This is when resentment became the force that only those who suffer, only the poor, and the powerless are good. The resentment was driven by the cause of anger and hatred of the slaves. The slave revolt was against the higher power the master morality. Therefore, this is when the slave morality was created they believe that anyone that thinks different of them are wrong and this all started with resentment. The difference is that slave morality focuses on kindness and master morality values pride and strength. One is simply for the elite upper class and the other is for the lower class. Master morality explains ‘good’ as its good to inspire fear, and in slave morality good means tending to ease suffering. The master morality suggests that good is strength, power, and therefore, with these traits we experience evil. The good in slave morality is the ability to be kind, therefore when we are kind we are easing suffering. The difference between Nietzsche ethics and other previous philosopher’s ethics like Aristotle is that Nietzsche believed in inner conflict and

The good life has a plethora of definitions, and this is exemplified by how differently Aristotle and Plato viewed the good life. One particular characteristic of the good life that was revealed by all the works that the class has analyzed is knowledge.

To lead a happy and fulfilling life, I believe we should all discover our own philosophy of life. Exercising the ability to rationally use our thinking and reasoning abilities is essential. We should all strive to be honest, good people and live our lives as well and happy as possible. Through experience we learn about ourselves and the world around us. I still have