TOPIC 5 OUTLINE

Who doesn’t want to live a good life? Everyone wants to have a happy,
fulfilling and meaningful existence. Yet somehow, this is something many
of us struggle with: we get caught up in the trivialities of everyday life. The
endless cycle of work-stress-recover-repeat leaves little time for anything
else. The pressures of modern life seem to get in the way of living the good
life. As technology changes how we work, learn, play, and socialize, finding
purpose and meaning in our lives becomes increasingly important.

What is the good life? Great thinkers like Socrates, Plato, and Seneca all
proposed their own answers to these questions.

However, perhaps the most famous theory of the good life comes from
Aristotle, who proposed that the good life is one of virtue and morality. In
other words, a good life is one where you strive to be kind and ethical in all
your actions. that’s not to say that other philosophies don’t also have some
truth to them; they are just more specific than Aristotle’s universal theory as
to what constitutes a good life.

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who lived from 384 to 322 B.C. He is
widely considered one of the most influential thinkers in Western history
and is often called the “father of logic” and the “father of science” as well.

During his time as a student at Plato’s Academy, he wrote several treatises

on philosophy, which were compiled into the now famous “Nicomachean
Ethics”.

*In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle addresses fundamental questions about

living a good life. Aristotle thought eudaimonia (often translated as
“happiness” or “well-being”) is the goal of human existence.

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end
of human existence,” he said.
For Aristotle, the good life is one in which we fulfill our potential as human
beings. Happiness is essential to this process; without it, people cannot
reach their full potential. However, happiness for Aristotle does not come
from pleasurable experiences or an abundance of riches. Instead, the happy
person is the one who has cultivated virtuous habits of thinking and acting.

*For Aristotle, a good life facilitates becoming a virtuous person so that you
can fulfill your potential as a human being and live with integrity. Aristotle
regarded happiness as the ultimate good. In his Nichomachean Ethics, he
explains that eudemonia is not just a pleasant life but a good one filled with
virtue and, thus, happiness.

Aristotle is famous for his theory of the “good life,” or eudaimonia. He

thought that the good life is an excellent, flourishing, happy life and that the
good life can only be achieved by people with exceptional character who
have taken excellent care to develop their virtues. In other words, it’s a high
bar for living a great life.

*He believed that the most fulfilled and happy life combines intellectual
inquiry with virtuous action.

“The Life of the intellect is the best and pleasantest for man, because the
intellect more than anything else is the man. Thus it will be the happiest life
as well,” says Aristotle.

In his view, eudaemonia (often translated as “happiness” or “well-being”) is

a kind of flourishing where an individual has achieved balance in their
approach to living and has found meaning in their life through virtuous
action.
*Aristotle describes the good life as one with virtue and happiness.
According to the philosopher, happy life fulfills its potential by living
virtuous principles in action: not just thinking about them but actually living
them.

He believes that living virtuously enables us to flourish and be content —

not just for this moment or this week but for all our existence.

Happiness is your best self-flourishing or thriving; it’s your greatest self.

This doesn’t mean being happy all the time — rather, it means having a life
that meets your needs and is virtuous. Virtue means developing character
traits you want: honesty, courage, generosity, and so on.

The theory of the good life

“Life is a gift of nature but beautiful living is the gift of wisdom.” —
Aristotle

Aristotle’s theory of the good life is centered around the idea that human
beings are naturally inclined toward flourishing in both mind and body.

For a person to flourish, they must be free to do what they find most
enjoyable, live in a way that is congruent with their values, and have access
to the things they need to survive, such as food, shelter, and medical care.

Aristotle distinguished between the material and the spiritual senses of the
word “flourishing”. He believed that while people can thrive materially by
having enough money and a good job, they can also flourish spiritually by
engaging in meaningful activities.

*He held that it is essential to distinguish between what is necessary for

survival and what is desirable for its own sake.

While food and shelter are essential for any individual’s well-being, many
other things such as love, friendship, adventure, knowledge and beauty
contribute to a person’s overall sense of fulfillment.

Aristotle believed that people should strive to live well physically, mentally,
and spiritually. His theory of the good life is based on four key principles:
virtue, excellence, fulfillment, and happiness. Aristotle believed that a
person’s character was the most critical aspect of their life.

He argues that a good life is a life of virtue. This means that it is a life
where we act in accordance with our core values and moral beliefs — our
basic principles and ideals.

It is a life in which we do what we believe to be right and what is good for

us. We live the good life when we act according to our core values — who
we aspire to become and what’s important and meaningful to us.

“It is the active exercise of our faculties in conformity with virtue that
causes happiness, and the opposite activities its opposite,” Aristotle said.
To be virtuous, Aristotle said that you must have self-control, which means
that you must control your emotions and impulses. He also believed you
must be honest, fair-minded, kind, and compassionate.

Some people may think that being virtuous is too much of an effort. But
Aristotle believes that if you live a virtuous life, you will be happier overall
because you will enjoy being more fulfilled as a person.

Aristotle observed that there were three kinds of people in the world: those
who seek honor, those who seek wealth, and those who seek knowledge (or
wisdom).

*He believed that true happiness could only be found through self-
improvement and inner growth. This meant that people should take an
active role in shaping their own lives by honing their skills and developing
their character.

A virtuous person would be well-rounded and balanced, while an excellent

person would be highly skilled and knowledgeable.

Finally, a fulfilled person would live the life they want by being content in
almost every area of their life. Aristotle believed these principles were
interconnected, and each had to be considered to build a good life.

The Ten Golden Rules on Living a Good Life

Michael Soupios and Panos Mourdoukoutas wrote a book entitled The Ten
Golden Rules on Living a Good Life where they extracted “ancient wisdom
from the Greek philosophers on living the good life” and mapped it into
modern times

1. Examine life, engage life with a vengeance; always search for new
pleasures and new destinies to reach with your mind

2. Worry only about the things that are in your control, the things that can
be influenced and changed by your actions
. Treasure Friendship, the reciprocal attachment that fills the need for
affiliation. Friendship cannot be acquired in the market place, but must be
nurtured and treasured in relations imbued with trust and amity.

Experience True Pleasure. Avoid shallow and transient pleasures. Keep your
life simple. Seek calming pleasures that contribute to peace of mind. True
pleasure is disciplined and restrained.
5. Master Yourself. Resist any external force that might delimit thought and
action; stop deceiving yourself, believing only what is personally useful and
convenient; complete liberty necessitates a struggle within, a battle to
subdue negative psychological and spiritual forces that preclude a healthy
existence; self mastery requires ruthless cador
6. Avoid Excess. Live life in harmony and balance. Avoid excesses. Even
good things, pursued or attained without moderation, can become a source
of misery and suffering.
7. Be a Responsible Human Being. Approach yourself with honesty and
thoroughness; maintain a kind of spiritual hygiene; stop the blame-shifting
for your errors and shortcomings.

8. Don’t Be a Prosperous Fool. Prosperity by itself is not a cure-all against

an ill-led life and may be a source of dangerous foolishness. Money is a
necessary but not a sufficient condition for the good life, for happiness and
wisdom.
9. Don’t Do Evil to Others. Evildoing is a dangerous habit, a kind of reflex
too quickly resorted to and too easily justified that has a lasting and
damaging effect upon the quest for the good life. Harming others claims
two victims—the receiver of the harm, and the victimizer, the one who does
harm.
10. Kindness towards others tends to be rewarded. Kindness to others is a
good habit that supports and reinforces the quest for the good life. Helping
others bestows a sense of satisfaction that has two beneficiaries—the
beneficiary, the receiver of the help, and the benefactor, the one who
provides the help.
a. What is Human Existence?

• The meaning of “existence” is derived from philosophical and

religious reflections, as well as scientific investigations into
socialization, consciousness, and happiness.
 
• Symbolic significance, ontology that offer a comprehensive and
conclusive classification of all entities in all domains of existence.
value, purpose, ethics, good and evil, free will, and the presence of
one or many gods.

• Philosophers have tried to discover the secret of existence, the meaning

of everything, just like Aristotle, we all know that he is the greatest
philosophers who ever lived and the first genuine scientist in history
that teach and explain the purpose of life about happiness on how
achieved via reason and the acquisition of virtue in making transparent
and obvious awareness in abilities to the fullest potential in obtaining
happiness of the goal of a person's life just to seek out the truth, moral
perfection, and to put their beliefs into action in the world.
Human Existence

• Plato believes that man reflects the character of the state in which he
lives. To comprehend a person, one must analyze the society in which
he lives.

• His Theory of Forms proposes that universalis do not physically exist,

like objects, but as heavenly forms.

• Socrates describes the Form of the Good about justice in the soul is
related to the concept of happiness as it relates to the meaning of life
about good and reasonable things take purpose and worth from it.

B. What is a Public Good?

In economics, a public good is a good that is both non-excludable and

non-rivalrous. For such goods, users cannot be barred from accessing
or using them for failing to pay for them.

Public Good

• In economic it is a commodity or service that is provided without profit

to all members of a society, either by the government pursues it with a
service orientation or a private individual pursue it with a profit
orientation.
• A public good is something that benefits the community or nation from
its use.

• The first level comes from the people consider the public good to be
beneficial to the majority. This utilitarian consideration is significant
since, on the other hand, it serves a purpose as the ethical standard
which unites light of their personal and social advantages. As
beneficiaries they consider their own selfish advantages, but however,
there is also an acknowledgement that unless they work together for
their shared good, the benefit to be received may not be materialistic
and also suffer as from its non realization.

• The elements of unity being united and subsidiarity.

• The second level is either local or national government that believes or

expects, from a utilitarian viewpoint, that the public views a specific
project or service as important for their well-being. Some examples of
assumed necessary public services or public goods the national defense,
education, public health, public ports/airports, and highways are all
examples of public services

Rolando Gripaldo
He is currently the Executive Governor of the Philippine National
Philosophical Research Society and the Editor of "Philosophia (Philippines):
International Journal of Philosophy." He has published eight books and
coedited five books, and has also published myriad articles.

A Filipino philosopher, Rolando Gripaldo, talks about public bads, such as

corruption, pollution and crimes and believes that the idea of the public
good conveys essentially the political morality or public ethics.