THE GOOD LIFE

HASSANAL PEUTO ABUSAMA, MAT

SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• a. Describe the idea of the good
life
• b. Explain Aristotle’s concept of
eudaimonia and arete; and
• c. Investigate current issues and
come up with innovative and
creative solutions.
Long before the word "science"
was invented in Ancient Greece,
the desire to understand the
universe and truth was bound up
with the need to understand self
and the good life.
 While "truth" is the purpose of
theoretical science, the "good" is
the ultimate objective of
practical science.
One must find the truth about
what the good is before one
can even try to locate that
which is good.
What does it really mean to
live a good life?

"Are we living a good life?"

There must be a necessary reflection on
two things: first, what criterion should
be used to describe a good life? Second,
in the midst of scientific progress and
technological advancement, how can
expectations act as a guide to living a
good life?
ARISTOTLE NICHOMACHEAN
ETHICS AND THE GOOD LIFE
Work includes natural
philosophy to logic
and political theory,
and attempted to
explain what good is.
Nicomachean Ethics 2:2
All human activities aim at some good. Every art
and human inquiry, and similarly every action and
pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for
this reason the good has been rightly declared
as that at which all things aim.
 Aim = good
Good life = happiness

….both the many and cultivated call it

happiness, and suppose that living well and
doing well are the same as being happy.

Nicomachean Ethics 1:4

 Aristotle posited two kinds of good. Aristotle explained
in NE Book 2, Chapter 2, (NE 2:2) that every action is
aimed at some good. Certain actions, however, aim at
an instrumental good, while others aim at an intrinsic
good. He made it clear that while the former is good in
itself, the ultimate good is a way to achieving something
else or some other goal.
EUDAIMONIA: THE
ULTIMATE GOOD
What is the ultimate good, then?
• One might assume that the ultimate good is pleasure.
• Others may assume that wealth is a possible candidate
for the ultimate good.
• Fame and honour is another nominee for supreme good.
What is the ultimate good, then?
• Unlike fun, money, glory and honor, the
ultimate good is happiness.
Eudaimonia is an ancient Greek word of the
concept of living well and doing well

Eu means good
Daimon means spirit
• Eudaimonia, incorporating the root terms,
means pleasure and welfare.
• Two signs of eudaimonia, namely virtue and
perfection, were suggested by Aristotle (NE
1:7).
• Eudaimonia transcends all facets of life, for
whatever one does, it's about living well and
doing well.
Aristotle claims that happiness is the
be all and end all of everything that
we do.
 Aristotle actually means is human
flourishing, a kind of contentment in
knowing that one is getting the best
out of life. A kind of feeling that one has
maxed out his potentials in the world,
that he has attained the crux of his
humanity.
 EUDAIMONIA:
UNIQUELY HUMAN
• Eudaimonia, or happiness, is unique to human
beings because it is a unique human feature. It
is done only by an existence that is rationally
guided.
Table 1. Aristotle’s Tripartite Soul

HUMANS ANIMALS PLANTS

RATIONAL SENSITIVE NUTRITIVE

(RATIONAL) (PARTLY RATIONAL) (NON-RATIONAL)

THEORITICAL LOCOMOTION GROWTH NUTRITION
PRACTICAL PERCEPTION REPRODUCTION
ARÊTE AND HUMAN
HAPPINESS
• Arête, a Greek word, can also mean moral virtue
and is characterized as excellence of any kind.
• A virtue is something that makes one perform
well.
• Two kinds of virtue were proposed by Aristotle:
intellectual virtue and moral virtue.
It is the activities that express
virtue that control
happiness,
and the contrary activities that
e.g. Eating healthy control its contrary.
food, Nicomachean Ethics 1:10
Taking care of the
environment

This requires discipline and practice.

Virtue
o constant practice of good
o excellence of character
 Virtue comes about by choosing a mean
between vicious extremes according to the
right principle.

Intellectual virtues
 Soul
Rational part Irrational part
Contemplative part Calculative part
(Intellectual) (Moral)

Deals with eternal Deals with the practical

truths of science and matters of human life.
mathematics. Right reasoning
Right reasoning corresponds to proper
corresponds to deliberation that leads to
truth. making the right choice.
Intellectual virtues = know what is just and
admirable.
= learn through instruction.
Knowledge is useless without action.

Moral virtues = do just and admirable deeds.

= learn through habit and practice.
“ Aristotle is telling us that having one’s heart in the
right place is not good enough: being a good person
requires a kind of practical intelligence as well as a
good disposition.
”
Is it possible to master intellectual virtue without moral virtue?
Is it possible to master moral virtue without intellectual virtue?
Virtue, then, being of two kinds, intellectual and
moral, intellectual virtue in the main owes its
birth and growth to teaching (for which reason it
requires experience and time), while moral virtue
comes about as a result of habit.

Nicomachean Ethics 2:1

 Aristotle believes that all living things exist to fulfill
some telos, or purpose. This telos is determined
primarily by what makes that living thing distinctive.

Humans are distinctively rational animals, our telos

must be based in our rationality.
• C.S Lewis posited in the documentary film The Magician
Twin: C.S Lewis and the Argument against Scientism
that science must be driven by some ethical foundation
that science itself does not devote to.
• Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics is one such ethical
base.
HAPPINESS AS THE
GOAL OF A GOOD
LIFE
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.
• He said that individual happiness of each
individual should be prioritized and collectively
dictates the kind of action that should be
endorsed.
So what then is the connection
of science and technology to
good life and virtue?
Activity: Video Clip Viewing
• For this activity, students will watch the concept
of Aristotle on Good Life. Write a Reflection paper.
• You can access the video clip thru this link
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFPBf1AZO
Qg)
Lesson 6. Assessment
• Check on the google classroom for the link.
Assignment
• Watch the documented video of C.S. Lewis on entitled “The
Magician’s Twin: C.S. Lewis and the case against Scientism”.
• 2. You may access the video in this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPeyJvXU68k&t=9s
• 3. Discuss your opinion about the video in 300-500 words.