Lesson 6: The Good Life  correspond to real goods—things that
are good for us whether we want them
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)
 was a Greek philosopher, a student of
Plato, and teacher of Alexander the
Great
 he wrote about: physics, metaphysics,
poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric,
linguistics, politics, ethics, biology, and
zoology
 his thought in multiple fields was
considered definitive for millennia
 his work in ethics and politics is still
widely influential today
 one of the greatest thinkers in the
history of western philosophy
For Aristotle,
 the final end of human life is to
flourish, to live well, to have a good
life
 in order to live at all we need food,
clothing, and shelter
 living is itself the means to the end of
living well
 living well is the final end for humans;
it is not a means to anything else
Acquired Desires
 differ between individuals
 say for caviar—correspond to our wants
 correspond to apparent goods—things
that appear good because we want them
Natural Desires
 the same for everyone
 say for food—correspond to our needs
Moral Virtues
 virtues exemplified by a regular
or not
NOTE: Aristotle states that the Good life
consists in the possession, over the course of a
lifetime, of all those things that are really good
for us.
REAL GOODS
 Unlimited Goods - we can have more
of them than we
need
(1) Bodily Goods - health, vitality, vigor,
and pleasure
(2) External Goods - food, drink, shelter,
clothing, and sleep
 Limited Goods - we cannot have
more of them than
we need
(3) Goods of the Soul – knowledge, skill,
love, friendship, aesthetic enjoyment,
self-esteem, and honor
NOTE: The way to bridge the gap between
knowledge of the good life and actually living it
was through the development of a good moral
character (entails developing good habits)
A good habit allows us to perform certain
actions without effort.
Good Habits - virtues or excellences
Intellectual Virtues - virtues of the mind
Wisdom - most important
intellectual virtue
disposition to choose correctly
 plays a special role in living well
 the habit of making the right choices
 our choices determine whe-ther we
live well
NOTE: If we make too many bad choices, we
will live poorly.
Good Habits or Moral Virtues
 the principal means to having good
lives because they allow us to habitually
make the choices that both constitute
and lead to good lives
MOST IMPORTANT MORAL VIRTUES
OR HABITS
Moderation
 keeps us from overindulging in pleasure
or seeking too much of the limited
goods
Courage
 having the disposition to do what it
takes to live a good life
Justice
 the virtue that allows us to have friends
and enjoy the benefits of cooperation
Both knowledge of the good life and good habits
may not be enough because living well is not
completely within our control. Why?
 First, some real goods, like wealth or
health, are not completely within our
power to possess.
  Second, we didn’t create the initial
conditions of our birth or the
environment into which we were born.
Thus moral virtue, while necessary, doesn’t
guarantee a good life. We also need to be
fortunate or lucky. If we are wise, virtuous, and
fortunate we will have good, meaningful lives.
Aristotle’s view of good life is the activity of the
soul in accordance with virtue:
 believed that good for humans is the
maximum realization of what was
unique to humans
 the good for humans was to reason well
 the task of reason was to teach humans
how to act virtuously, and the exercise
faculties in accor-dance with virtue
 more like the ultimate value of your life
as lived up to this moment
 measuring how well you have lived up
to your full potential as a human being
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND
GOOD LIFE
 the movement towards good life
 one of the highest expressions of human
faculties
 allow us to thrive and flourish if we
desire it
 may corrupt a person but with virtue, it
can help an individual to be out of
danger

HAPPINESS TO ARISTOTLE
 happiness depends on ourselves, central
purpose of human life and a goal in
itself
 depends on the cultivation of virtue
 a genuinely happy life required the
fulfillment of a broad range of
conditions (physical and mental well-
being)

HAPPINESS AS THE ULTIMATE

PURPOSE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE
 happiness is a final end or goal that
encompasses the totality of one's life
 not something that can be gained or lost
in a few hours, like pleasurable
sensations