A Moral Life is a Good Life
(Socrates and Plato)
SESSION 5:
THE GOOD LIFE
Class Discussion: Question
What is a ‘good life’?
THE GOOD LIFE
The answer to the question ‘What is a
good life?’ varies through time, and
among different cultures, schools of
philosophy and individuals.
However, there are three dominant
ideas on what good life is:
1. The Moral Life (Socrates and
Plato)
2. The Fulfilled Life (Aristotle)
3. The Life of Pleasure (Epicurus)
This concept of good life was suggested
by Socrates and Plato.
In this concept, one who has a good life
is someone who possesses and
practices most of the important virtues
such as kindness, courage, loyalty and
generosity.
Examining, reflecting, and questioning
the nature of things is important to
have a good life.
Servitude to others is important.
Also, one must control his or her
passions and desires through reason in
order to have a good life.
The Fulfilled Life is a Good
Life (Aristotle)
For someone to have a good life, he or
she:
1. Must be morally virtuous.
2. Have a good health and long
life;
3. Should be prosperous;
4. Must have good friends;
5. Should respect others;
6. Must have good luck; and
7. Must use his or her talents,
abilities and capacities.

 The Life of Pleasure is a
Good Life (Epicurus)
This concept was suggested by
Epicurus.
This concept states that life is worth
living because of pleasures.
The view that pleasures will lead to
good life is known as hedonism.
Epicurus recognized all kinds of
pleasures such as wealth, sexual
pleasures and fame.
However, Epicurus also believed
that one should not lose
himself/herself to pleasures.
1. This will diminish one’s
pleasures in the long run;
2. There are other more important
pleasures to consider such as
friendship and education;
3. Everyone should live a virtuous
life.
The Three Aspects of Good
Life
Disregarding the hedonistic
approach, a good life is the integration
of these three aspects: self-mastery,
contemplation and learning and
servitude to society.
Ethics and Ethical
Standards
Now that we have an understanding
“What is Good Life?”
The next question is:
“How should I live?”
Ethics answers this question.
Ethics can be defined as the system of
moral principles concerned with what is
good for one’s self and society. It
addresses the following dilemmas:
A. How to live a good life
B. Rights and Responsibilities
C. The language of right and wrong
D. What is good and bad
Living an ethical life is a unique
characteristic of humans. This is
because only humans have the ability
to reason out and be rational.
Ethics provides a framework for
answering complex questions, allowing
humans to act based on moral
principles.
Ethical dilemmas are inevitable. We
encounter them in our daily lives. It is
very important that our actions and
decisions are based on moral principles.
EXAMPLE:
 Will I tell my mom that I got low
grades in some of my subjects?
 Is it okay to eat in an expensive
restaurant while others are
starving?
 Will I tell my friend that his or
her partner is cheating even
though I know that I will hurt
him or her.
The Role of Ethics in
Innovation
Question:
What do you think is the role of ethics in
innovation? Is it really important?
First, let us understand what innovation is.
1. Divergence
Innovation seeks to change the
status quo. It aims to generate new
ideas, concepts and methods, hence,
diverging from the current and
common. In this way, problems and
concerns can be solved using new and
different approaches.
2. Curiosity
According to Aristotle, curiosity
allows us to search for our intellectual
virtues. Curiosity drives us to explore
and examine things and ultimately
enables us to gain new knowledge.
Innovation starts from curiosity.
3. Multi-disciplinary
To come up with an innovative
solution, a multi-disciplinary approach
should be used. A multi-disciplinary
approach provides a deeper and more
holistic discourse about the problem
and potential solutions. This made
possible through teams composed of
people with diverse backgrounds and
skills.
4. Resilience
Innovation is usually the end
product of many experiments.
Innovators need resilience to continue
processing and testing ideas despite
many previous failures.
5. Effect to People
Innovators should consider the
effect of their innovation to people.
After all, innovations are intended to
benefit the end-users, and the end-
users are the ultimate judge if the
innovation is useful and relevant to
them.
6. Shared Responsibility
Innovation is a shared
responsibility between the innovator
and the community. The innovator’s
intent for his innovation should be for
the common good of the community.
On the other hand, the community
should use the innovation in a
responsible manner.
What is the difference between
technology and innovation?
 Innovation is a human-centered
perspective and process. It is the
generation of new ideas, concepts
or methods in order to solve
problems.
 Technology is a possible product of
innovation. Technology is also
important in the development of
innovation.
 The term innovation is more
encompassing than technology.
Innovation should not just consider the
technological or economic gains. It should
be ethical too. Innovation affects people
and the many aspects of life, like health,
politics, communication and justice
system. Hence, innovation should be done
within the ethical framework.
Ethical innovations are those that are
humanistic, participatory, and sustainable.
 Humanistic – the innovation should
be human-centered which means
that it should be relevant to
humans.
 Participatory – the design of the
innovation was done with the
people, not just for the people.
 Sustainable – the innovation could
sustain for a long time considering
social, economical, political and
environmental aspects.

The Good Life, innovation

Ethics

HOW ARE THEY RELATED?