THE GOOD

LIFE
(STS)
 THE GOOD LIFE: INTRODUCTION

In Ancient Greece, long before “SCIENCE”

had been coined, the need to understand the
world and reality was bound with the need to
understand the self and the good life.

 For Plato, the task of understanding the things

in the world runs parallel with the job of truly
getting into what will make the soul flourish.
* In an attempt to understand the reality of
the external world, man must seek to understand
himself too.
 THE GOOD LIFE: INTRODUCTION

PLATO – World of forms and World of matter.

 Plato claims that despite the reality of
change, things remain, and they retain their
ultimate whatness.

•WORLD OF MATTER – things are changing

and impermanent.
•WORLD OF FORMS – entities are only copies
of the ideal and the models, and the FORMS
are the only real entities.
 THE GOOD LIFE: INTRODUCTION

•ARISTOTLE
 Approach the Problem of Reality from a scientific
lens.

 Goal of life: HAPPINESS

•ARISTOTLE – gave a distinction
between the theoretical and
practical sciences.

•THEORETICAL DISCIPLINES –
Aristotle included LOGIC,
BIOLOGY, PHYSICS, and
METAPHYSICS
•PRACTICAL DISCIPLINE – Ethics
 THE GOOD LIFE: INTRODUCTION
•“TRUTH” – is the aim of the theoretical sciences
•“GOOD”- is the end goal of the practical ones.
 Every attempt to know is connected in some
way in an attempt to find the good or as said
the attainment of human flourishing.
 Compared to his teacher (PLATO), Aristotle
puts everything back to the ground in
claiming that this world is all there is to it
and that this world is the only reality we
can all access.
 THE GOOD LIFE

Are we living the good life?

This question is inarguably one of universal

human concerns.
ARISTOTLE’S NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS AND THE GOOD
LIFE

To answer the question “Are we living the good

life?”, necessary reflection must be made on two things:

 First, what standard could be used to define ‘the

good life?’
Second, how can the standard serve as a guide
toward living the good life in the midst of scientific
progress and technological advancement?
ARISTOTLE’S NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS AND THE GOOD
LIFE
• Aristotle
- A Greek philosopher, the teacher of the
Great Alexander.
- He has written numerous books on
physics, poetry, zoology, logic, government,
and biology.
- is probably the most important ancient
Greek philosopher and scientist.
- He was a student of Plato, who was then
a student of Socrates. Together, they were
considered the ‘Big Three of Greek Philosophy’.
ARISTOTLE’S NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS AND THE GOOD
LIFE
• Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, the fundamental basis of
Aristotelian ethics, consists of ten books. Originally, they
were lecture notes written on scrolls when he taught at the
Lyceum.
• It is widely believed that the lecture notes were compiled
by or were dedicated to one of Aristotle’s sons,
Nichomacus. Alternatively, it is believed that the work was
dedicated to Aristotle’s father who was of the same name.
• The Nichomachean Ethics, abbreviated as NE or sometimes
EN based on the Latin version of the same name, is a
treatise on the nature of moral life and human happiness
based on the unique essence of human nature. The NE is
particularly useful in defining what the good life is.
ARISTOTLE’S NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS AND THE GOOD
LIFE

• Everyone has a definition of what good is:

-getting a college degree, traveling across the world,
succeeding in a business venture, pursuing a healthy and
active lifestyle, or being a responsible parent.
- However, although everyone aims to achieve that
which is good, Aristotle posited two types of good.
* In NE Book 2 Chapter 2, (NE 2:2), Aristotle explained
that every action aims to some good. However, some
actions aim at an instrumental good while some aim at
an intrinsic good.
ARISTOTLE’S NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS AND THE GOOD
LIFE

 Intrinsic good
- is something worthwhile not because it leads to
something else, but for its own sake alone; i.e., Good-
in-itself.
 Instrumental good
- is something considered as a means to some
other good; i.e., an instrumental good leads to
something else that is good.
 EUDAIMONIA: THE ULTIMATE
GOOD

• What then is the ultimate good?

- Based on the contrast between two types of good, one
could reflect on some potential candidates for the ultimate
good. The ancient Greeks called this concept of “living well
and doing well” as eudaimonia (eu·​dae·​mo·​nia | \ ˌyüdē
ˈmōnēə \).
- The word came from the Greek word eu meaning
“good” and daimon meaning “spirit”. Taken together, it
generally refers to the good life, which is marked by
happiness and excellence.
 EUDAIMONIA: THE ULTIMATE
GOOD

• One might think that pleasure is the ultimate good.

- One aims for pleasure in the food they eat or in the
experiences they immerse themselves into. Yet, while
pleasure is an important human need, it cannot be the
ultimate good.

* First, it is transitory—it passes.

* Second, pleasure does not encompass all aspects
of life.
 EUDAIMONIA: THE ULTIMATE
GOOD

• Other might think that wealth is a potential

candidate for the ultimate good, but a critique of
wealth would prove otherwise.
* In this sense, wealth is just an intermediate good
—that is, only instrumental.
- It is not the ultimate good because it is not self-
sufficient and does not stop one from aiming for some
other ‘greater’ good.
 EUDAIMONIA: THE ULTIMATE
GOOD

• Another candidate for the ultimate good is fame and

honor.
- Many people act according to how they think
they will be admired and appreciated by other people.
- However, these cannot constitute the ultimate
good, simply because they are based on the perception
of others.
 EUDAIMONIA: THE ULTIMATE
GOOD

• Unlike pleasure, wealth, fame and honor, happiness

is the ultimate good. More accurately, others translate
it as human flourishing or prosperity.
• Aristotle proposed two hallmarks of eudaimonia:
* Virtue and Excellence (NE 1:7).
• Thus, happiness in the sense of eudaimonia has to be
distinguished from merely living good. Eudaimonia
transcends all aspects of life for it is about living well
and doing well in whatever one does.
 EUDAIMONIA: UNIQUELY HUMAN?

• Eudaimonia or happiness is unique to humans for it is

a uniquely human function.
- It is achieved only through a rationally directed
life.
• Aristotle’s notion of a tripartite soul as summarized
in Table 1 illustrates a nested hierarchy of the
functions and activities of the soul.
TABLE 1: TRIPARTITE SOUL
 ARÊTE AND HUMAN HAPPINESS

Eudaimonia is what defines the good life. To live a good

life is to have a happy life. For Aristotle, eudaimonia is only
possible by living a life of virtue.
Arête (ahr-i-tey), a Greek term, is define as “excellence
of any kind” and can also mean “moral virtue.” A virtue is
what makes one function well.
* Aristotle suggested two types of virtue: intellectual
virtue and moral virtue.
 ARÊTE AND HUMAN HAPPINESS
• Intellectual virtue or virtue of thought
- is achieved through education, time, and experience.
* Key intellectual virtues are wisdom, which guides ethical
behavior, and understanding, which is gained from scientific
endeavors and contemplation.
* Wisdom and understanding are achieved through formal
and non-formal means.
• Intellectual virtues are acquired through self-taught knowledge
and skills as much as those knowledge and skills taught and
learned in formal institutions.
 ARÊTE AND HUMAN HAPPINESS
• Moral virtue or virtue of character

- is achieved through habitual practice.

* Some key moral virtues are generosity, temperance, and courage.

• Aristotle explained that although the capacity for intellectual virtue is
innate, it is brought into completion only by practice.

* It is by repeatedly being unselfish that one develops the virtue of

generosity.

* It is by repeatedly resisting and foregoing every inviting opportunity

that one develops the virtue of temperance.

* It is by repeatedly exhibiting the proper action and emotional

response in the face of danger that one develops the virtue of courage.
 ARÊTE AND HUMAN HAPPINESS
• Moral virtue or virtue of character is achieved through
habitual practice. Some key moral virtues are generosity,
temperance, and courage.
- By and large, moral virtue is like a skill.
* A skill is acquired only through repeated practice.

 Everyone is capable of learning how to play the guitar

because everyone has an innate capacity for intellectual virtue,
but not everyone acquires it because only those who devote
time and practice develop the skill of playing the instrument.
 ARÊTE AND HUMAN HAPPINESS

• Both intellectual virtue and moral virtue should be followed for reasons to
achieve eudaimonia. Indifference with these virtues, for reasons that are
only for one’s convenience, pleasure, or satisfaction, leads humans away
from eudaimonia.

* If one learns that eating too much fatty foods is bad for the health,
he or she has to make it a habit to stay away from this type of food.

* If one believes that too much use of social media is detrimental to

human relationships and productivity, he or she must regulate his or her
use of social media.

* If one understands the enormous damage to the environment that

plastic materials bring, he or she must repeatedly forego the next plastic
item he or she could do away with.
 ARÊTE AND HUMAN HAPPINESS

• A virtue is ruined by any excess and deficiency in how one lives and acts. A
balance between two extremes is a requisite of virtue.

- This balance is a mean of excess not in the sense of a geometric or

arithmetic average. Instead, it is a mean relative to the person, circumstances,
and the right emotional response in every experience (N.E 2:2;2:6).

* Consider the virtue of courage.

- Courage was earlier defined as displaying the right action and emotional
response in the face of danger.

The virtue of courage is ruined by an excess of the needed emotional and

proper action to address a particular situation. Also, courage is ruined by a
deficiency of the needed emotion and proper action.
 WHAT THEN IS THE GOOD LIFE?

• Putting everything in a perspective, the good life in the sense of

eudaimonia is the state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous in the
way one thinks, lives, and acts.
• The path to the good life consists of the virtues of thought and character,
which are relative mediators between the two extremes of excess and
deficiency. In this way, the good life is understood as happiness brought
about by living a virtuous life.
• The onward progress of science and technology is also the movement
towards the good life. Science and technology are one of the highest
expressions of human faculties. They allow us to thrive and flourish in life
if we so desire it. Science and technology may also corrupt a person, but
grounding oneself in virtue will help him/her steer clear of danger.
 HAPPINESS AS THE GOAL OF A GOOD LIFE
• In the eighteen century, John Stuart Mill declared the Greatest
Happiness Principle by saying that an action is right as far as it
maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number
of people.
• Mill said that individual happiness of each individual should be
prioritized and collectively dictates the kind of action that should
endorsed.
• Consider the pronouncement against mining, and also using
Social Media. When an action benefits the greatest number of
people, said action is deemed ethical.
 HAPPINESS AS THE GOAL OF A GOOD LIFE

* Does mining benefit rather than hurt the majority? Does it

offer more benefits rather than disadvantages? Does mining
result in more people getting happy rather than sad?

• If the answers to the said questions are in the affirmative,

then the said action, mining/using social media, is deemed
ethical.
The ethical, is of course, meant to lead us to the good and
happy life.
• History has given birth to different schools of thought, all of
which aim for the good and happy life.
 MATERIALISM

The first materialists were the atomists in Ancient Greece.

Democritus and Leucippus led a school whose primary belief is that
the world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny indivisible units in
the world called Atomos or seeds.
For Democritus and his disciples, the world, including human
beings, is made up of matter. There is no need to posit immaterial
entities as a source of purpose. Atomos simply comes together randomly
to form the things in the world. As such, only material entities matter.
In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain
happiness. We see this at work with the most people who are clinging on
to material wealth as the primary source of the meaning of their
existence.
 HEDONISM

The hedonists, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring
pleasure.
Pleasure has always been the priority of hedonists. For them, life is about
obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited.
The mantra of this school of thought is the famous, “Eat, drink, and
be merry for tomorrow we die.” Led by Epicurus, this school of thought
also does not buy any notion of afterlife just like the materialists.
 STOICISM

Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics espoused

the idea that to generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself
and be apathetic. The original term, Apatheia, precisely means to be
indifferent .
For the stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice
of apathy. We should, in this worldview, adopt the fact that some things
are not within our control. The sooner we realize this, the happier we can
become.
 THEISM

Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as a fulcrum
of their existence.
The Philippines, as a predominantly Catholic country, is witness to how
people base their life goals on beliefs that hinged on some form of
supernatural reality called heaven.
Theists’ ultimate basis of happiness is communion with God and
serving God.
The world we are in is only a temporary reality that we have to maneuver
around while waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of God.
 HUMANISM

Humanism as another school of thought 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.
For humanists, man is literally the captain of his own ship.
Inspired by the enlightenment in seventeen century, humanists
see themselves not merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals
who are in control of themselves and the world outside them. This is the
spirit of most scientists who thought that the world is a place and space
for freely unearthing the world in seeking for ways on how to improve
the lives of its inhabitants.
 HUMANISM

As a result of the motivation of the humanist current, scientists

eventually turned to technology in order to ease the difficulty of life.
Scientists of today meanwhile are ready to confront more sophisticated
attempts at altering the world for the benefit of humanity. Some people
now are willing to tamper with time and space in the name of technology.
Example: Social media, the internet, and smart phones.
Social media for example, has been so far a very effective way of
employing technology in purging time and space. Not very long ago,
communication between two people from two continents in the planet
will involve months of waiting for a mail to arrive. Seeing each other real
time while talking was virtually impossible. Now, communication between
two people wherever they are, is not just possible but easy. The internet
and smart phones made real-time communication possible not just
between two people, but even with multiple people simultaneously.
 HUMANISM

Technology allowed us to tinker with our sexuality. Biologically

male individuals can now undergo medical operation if they so wish for
sexual reassignment. Breast implants are now available and can be done
with relative convenience if anyone wishes to have one. Hormones may
also be injected in order to alter the sexual chemicals in the body.
Whether or not we agree with these technological advancements,
these are all undertaken in the hopes of attaining the good life. The
balance, however, between the good life, ethics, and technology has to
be attained.