The Good Life PDF

1 THE GOOD LIFE LESSON 4  2 LESSON OBJECTIVES At the end of this lesson, students should be able to: * Examine what is meant by a good life; * Identify how humans attempt to attain what is deemed to be a good life; and * Recognize poss...

1 THE GOOD LIFE LESSON 4  2 LESSON OBJECTIVES At the end of this lesson, students should be able to: * Examine what is meant by a good life; * Identify how humans attempt to attain what is deemed to be a good life; and * Recognize possibilities available to human being to attain the good life.  3 “the need to understand the world and reality was bound with the need to understand the self and the good life”  4 “the task of understanding the things in the world runs parallel with the job of truly getting into what will make the soul flourish” “man must seek to understand Plato himself”  5 Practical Science & Theoretical Science ❑ Ethics ❑ Logic ❑ Politics ❑ Biology ❑ Physics ❑ Metaphysics Aristotle “GOOD” “TRUTH” First philosopher who approached the problem of reality from a “scientific” lens end goal of life: HAPPINESS  ARISTOTLE AND HOW WE ALL 6 ASPIRE FOR A GOOD LIFE u ARISTOTLE u versus u PLATO u “REALITY” Claiming that this world Things in this world are is all there is to it and that not real and are only this world is the only copies of the real in the reality we can all access. world of forms  7 CHANGE TWO REALITIES: ❑World of Forms ❑World of Matter things are copies things are Plato of the ideal and the models changing and impermanent  8 CHANGE There is no reality over and above what the senses can perceive. Change is a process that is inherent in things. Every human being moves according to some end. ❑ Action is a function of the purpose (telos). ❑ END = happiness or human flourishing Aristotle  9 HAPPINESS AS THE GOAL OF A GOOD LIFE Declared the Greatest Happiness principle in the 18th century. ❑ “action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of people” ❑ “individual happiness of each individual should be prioritized and collectively dictates the kind of action that should be endorsed” Pronouncements against mining Utilitarianism The ethical is, of course, meant to lead us to the John Stuart Mill good life and happy life.  10 MATERIALISM Only material entities matter Matter is what makes us attain happiness Atomos or seeds. The world, including human beings, is made up of matter. Atomos form the things in the world Leucippus Democritus  11 HEDONISM led by Epicurus End goal of life is acquiring pleasure “life is all about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited” “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” does not buy any notion of afterlife just like the materialists Epicurus The mantra of hedonism is “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.  12 STOICISM led by Epicurus Learn to distance oneself and be apathetic Apatheia means to be indifferent Happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy Some things are not within our control Epicurus  13 4 main ideas of Stoicism u Stoics elaborated a detailed taxonomy of virtue, dividing virtue into four main types: u wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation  14 THEISM The ultimate basis of happiness is the communion with God. “This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” – Isaac Newton “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” – Soren Kiergkegaard  15 HUMANISM founder-Petrarch, 14th century espouses the freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and controls Man is the captain of his own ship Individuals who are in control of themselves and the outside world  16 END OF THE PRESENTATION