“Good” is a broad term that can be interpreted in a variety of ways by each individual. By definition, it is a lack of self-centeredness. It means the ability to empathize with other people, to feel compassion for them, and to put their needs before your own. It means, if necessary, sacrificing your own well-being for the sake of others’. It means benevolence, altruism and selflessness, and self-sacrifice towards a greater cause. It means being able to see beyond the superficial difference of race, gender, or nationality and relate to a common human essence beneath them. All these qualities appear to stem from a sense of empathy. When one is asked to define what is “good”, and what the “good life” is, the answers can reveal something seeded in their own personal beliefs, experiences, and culture. This can offer a small window to peek in to view their ethics and help us understand how someone’s opinions of good in their life and around them help them conduct themselves.
I spoke with my mother-in-law, Cheryl for the dialogue of her views on good. Cheryl is the mother of 4 adult children, and although she has lived a majority of her life estranged from religion, found solace in Christianity as an adult and uses every moment in life as an opportunity to find God’s blessings or messages for direction and guidance. I grew up fairly atheist and didn 't attend a formal church service until after I married her eldest son. I utilized this interview opportunity to get an understanding
What does it mean to be a good person? Being good has many meanings. It can be to contribute to help someone or simply to be nice to that person. A good person is most likely respected by people around them.
According to the current definition from Webster, good is defined as morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious; where as evil is defined as morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked. One could
A good person has high values for themselves. They set standards not for perfection, but
In conclusion, people who change the way they think about doing the wrong to doing the right thing, help other people, and volunteer their life for another is a good person. Yet they are sill bad people in this world without carrying for other. Been a good people is importance because it will set an example for the later generation to follow
What makes a person good? Is it the way he or she looks, the way he or she thinks, his or her attitude, or his or her religion? For example, in “Good Country People”, People think that Manley is a good county wholesome young man because he is a bible salesman. In Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People,” Joy surprisingly becomes Manley’s victim due to her thinking that he is a good country person, her thinking she is smarter than everyone else, and due to him being very misleading.
If you asked a random person on the street “what is a good person?” or “what is the good life?” you would likely receive a different answer from everyone. These answers would be different because everyone has their own ideas and opinions of what the answers should be. For many, a good person is someone who lives a good life, is a Christian, or someone who helps other individuals. For some, a good person might be someone who puts others first and someone who is reliable. The same applies to the answers you would receive from “what is the good life?” Just like everyone had different opinions on what a good person is, they will also have different opinions on what the good life is. You might get answers ranging from spending time with one’s family to having a lot of money. These answers vary depending on the individuals values and world view. For some individuals this desire for money can cause them to act on it, driving them to steal in order to gain happiness. Bronk supports this idea by stating, “Our answers guide our actions, influence our decisions, and inspire our dreams” (2008, p.713). This paper will discuss how philosophers believe everyone should live and what kind of people we should be, what a good person is, what the good life is, and what the relationship between goodness and human reality is.
What does it mean to be a good person? How can one respect oneself without hurting others? Are we able to judge whether a decision is wrong or right? Do we really know what love is? ... Questions like these have always existed, but what happens when an author tries to comprehend the complexity of being ‘good people’? Is it possible to write about an issue like this? In David Foster Wallace’s short story “Good People” from 2007 we experience an attempt to do so.
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
Aristotle is one of the greatest thinkers in the history of western philosophy, and is most notably known for expressing his view of happiness in Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle develops a theory of how to live the good life and reach eudaimonia (happiness). Eudaimonia has been translated into, living a happy and virtuous life. Aristotle’s definition of the good life as the happy life, consist of balancing virtues (arête), the mean, external goods, political science, and voluntary action.
Being good could mean being a good citizen that follows the laws. It also means avoiding getting fines and committing crimes that lead some to end up in prison or jail. This means being a stand-up citizen or a role model to other citizens so that they could also act in a civilized manner. They follow all the rules and regulations of the local, state, and federal government. Not speeding and getting a parking ticket, reporting any crimes, and doing community service are one of the many ways a citizen can be a good. Being a good person could also mean that being a Samaritan. Examples of being a
What is good? Is it the selfless act of a volunteer at a homeless shelter or an honest and truthful
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.
Aristotle once quoted that “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” Granted, times have changed since 322 BC, but this general, basic idea can still be observed and studied in our modern times. Considering Aristotle is also one of the greatest thinkers in the history of western science and philosophy, this statement could easily be widely accepted, and could certainly provide substance for thought as to what the purpose of existence really is. In agreement to Aristotle, happiness is what makes a life worth living, and it is measured by refraining from materialism and feeling inspired by our coexisting society.
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
Humans cannot help but ask themselves, are the acts of goodness which are seen around them by others really true acts of good will or being good? Good will can be defined as a “kindly feeling of approval and support, benevolent interest or concern,” (Webster’s) and good can be defined as “morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, pious, excellence or merit, kindness, and a favorable character or tendency.” (Dictionary.com) Good can also be defined by the culture we live in and by what is also socially good and or correct. Good can be defined as doing what is right,