The On The Good Life Essay

     To further display that Polemarchus’ definition of justice gives a better account of the “good life” I put forth my own definition of the “good life”. I have come to conclude through the lessons life has taught me thus far that the “good life” is one composed of love and understanding. Love of one’s self because with this I can maintain a sound mind and body, but without it I cannot love others. Love of family because

In Phaedo and the The Odyssey, the main characters, Socrates and Odysseus, provide examples of different lifestyles. When conversing with his followers for the last time, Socrates’s thoughts demonstrate his views on the life of a philosopher. Comparatively, Odysseus lives the life of an epic hero aiming to return home. In their respective stories, both characters confront death, either their own or another character’s. Due to the developments in Phaedo and The Odyssey, I will argue that people's views of the afterlife stand as the main determination for how they believe they should live their lives.

Happiness: a Human Disease -- An Examination of the Allegorical Theme of Existentialism in the Happy Man

As a child, I grew up in a Christian family where my dad would read to my siblings and me from the Westminster Catechism. The first question from this text asks “What is the chief end of man?” And the matching response is “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This seemingly simple answer is something I have taken to heart and strive to live out in my daily life. For me, this looks like spending time in the Word, journaling, talking with friends and people I come into contact with about their lives, and trying to maintain a positive attitude even when things don’t go quite as I had planned. I think glorifying God and truly resting and enjoying His peace and presence is

Throughout The History by Herodotus, Croesus thought the good life revolved around material items, but was soon awakened to his “good life” through the influence of a leader (Solon) while those leaders in God in America: “A New Adam” from PBS were fired by a zeal to awaken others to their own “good life” through freedom and spirituality. The influence of few, such as Solon and the leaders from God in America, have the capability to have an effect on a considerable amount of society as a whole.

First, it is necessary to establish Callicles’ position in regards to what makes a person’s life “good.” Following the “leaky jar” analogy, Callicles defends a hedonistic position against Socrates, centered around hedonism and superiority through virtue. (Plato 66) Ultimately, his position can be summarized into multiple parts: “good” is pleasure, “good” can be measured by the amount of pleasure present in one’s life, and “good” people possess virtues such as courage or intelligence. Later—through Socrates’ probing—Callicles concedes that even the virtueless can undergo the same

There are as many perspectives about what a good life entails as there are people who seek to attain it. Legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin presents one perspective in his essay "What Is A Good Life", where he characterizes the good life by first distinguishing between morality as "how we ought to treat others", and ethics as "how we ought to live ourselves" (1). In attempting to integrate both into an interpretive view, Dworkin distinguishes "living well" from "having a good life" and argues that a good life has "performance value", achieved when one balances moral concern for others and ethical self-interest to live life to the fullest (5-6). Philosopher Peter Singer argues an alternative moral view in his essay "Famine, Affluence, and Morality",

The good life for Aristotle means that humans can obtain happiness only if they are citizens within a self-sufficient city because the city, a political entity, aims at and is most successful at providing the good life for its citizens (1252b27). Aristotle supports this claim with two arguments. The first argument asserts that politics is a part of human nature and that humans posses the capacity to access their greatest potential. This means exercising their capacities to the fullest degree and becoming citizens within a polis so they can live the good life (1253a2). The second argument states that everything is defined by its function (1253a18) and that the whole (the polis) is prior to its parts (the citizens) meaning that humans need the city in order to properly function as citizens and to attain the good life. Therefore politics is an elemental part of the good life because the nature and function

The good life is something that most people aspire to achieve and means different thing to different people. For some, the good life equates to financial success. To others, the love and good health of family is considered a good life. However, the good life is not something that is granted to most as a birth rite. Some have been fortunate enough to have been given the good life without much effort and others have had to forego many things and undertake many sacrifices. These sacrifices come at a heavy price and those wishing to attain the good life must bear this high cost. However, the good life is not about material possessions or fame and status. Those things can be possessed but does not equate to happiness nor a good life. In Solon and Croesus and Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, the good life presented in these works entails the achievement of enlightenment through

What is the good life? The definition of a good life will vary; but how I can make create my good life is by the happiness I create and what I can see through and find happiness. Life has twists and turn and it is never the same; day- in or day- out. The choice I have made is to accept the good with bad endure all things; but my happiness and the happiness of others is the fundamental goal.

Mills defines the good life in the form of happiness, “pleasure, and the absence of pain” (Serrano). The concept of the good life is intriguing to explore, after all, it has no concrete definition. The path one may choose to follow in order to pursue the good life is dictated by their own individuality – past actions, present decisions, and future goals. Whether one is thinking about their good life, or simply embodying it, the peculiar experiences and the magnitude of knowledge acquired are the critical aspects in differentiating one’s pursuit of the “good life”. In Herodotus’ The History, the concept of the good life is challenged and reconsidered, meanwhile, in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the motif of the superficiality of society is conspicuous when embodying the good

Constructing my personal definition of living a good life as well as the answer to the general theme takes careful consideration and openness to various theories. After examining the schema of Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics and Dante’s Inferno, the ideas and themes that they convey, begin to stick with me as I progressed through these different literary pieces during the semester. My initial understanding of what it meant to live a truly “good” life was extremely vague and an idea that was unfamiliar to me. My subconscious mind, imprinted by my parents and surroundings has shaped my views on what I believe it means to be good. However, as I study theories and ideas about what living a good life truly entails, I feel as if I am adjusting

Nearly every day of my life, especially for the past two years, I do not consider myself a genuinely happy human being, and that has truly forced me to question my true purpose here on earth. In fact, it has forced me to question my existence. For that reason, today, I cannot truly or sincerely answer the following question: What is a good life? Is the good life a life in which one is succeeding both academically and professionally? Is it a life in which one must push himself or herself through every obstacle that life may toss at him or her? Despite how much it may hurt or make he or she feel that earth is no longer home for him or her. Is it a life in which one must always think about his or her loved ones, especially if something were to

Money, clothes, cars, houses, and even marriage – these are all things that some may consider to determine whether or not they are living the “good life.” Others may view the good life as being able to enjoy nature every day, being able to run and jump, or even being able to read as many books as they please. Whatever one’s view of having or living the good life may be, there are certain assets or factors in their lives that makes them believe that their lives are good. There are also certain things they did, qualities they possess or steps they took to get to their good-life status. Different people

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