Module 5: THE GOOD LIFE

INTRODUCTION

What is the good life? Entire books have been written to address this question.
Philosophers of all ages pondered about this transcendent query as well. Still, the question
remains to this present day. It therefore comes as no surprise that people are still looking to
discover what it truly means to be living the good life. Finding an answer to this question is
not easy, even in the modern age of information. The term “living the good life” can mean
quite a variety of different things to different people. The following will present from a variety
of different perspectives what the good life is all about. In its basic form, living the good life is
all about the exploration of that which gives you joy and satisfaction. It’s about finding
purpose and meaning in your life and drawing happiness from that which you do.

After successfully completing this module, you should be able to:

1. Discover possibilities available to human beings to attain the good life;
2. Examine shared concerns that make up the good life in order to come up with
innovative, creative solutions and ethical solutions.
3. Create a representation of a good life that shows innovative, creative solutions to
contemporary issues guided by ethical standards

DISCUSSION

What is Good Life as Perceived by different schools of thought?

• Aristotle and Good Life

It is interesting to note that the first philosopher who approached the problem of reality
from scientific lens is Aristotle who is also the first thinker who dabbled into the complex
problematization of the end goal of life: happiness.

Compared to his predecessor and teacher, Plato, Aristotle embarked on different

approach in figuring out reality. Plato thought that things in this world are not real and are only
copies of the real in the world of forms. While Aristotle puts everything back to the ground in
claiming that this world is all there and that this world is the only reality, we can all access.

Aristotle also forwarded the idea that there is no reality over and above what the senses
can perceive. As such, it is only by observation of the external world that one can truly
understand what reality is all about. Change is a process that is inherent in things. We, along
with all other entities in the world start as potentialities and move towards actualities. The
movement, of course, entails change.
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Look at the pupa in the picture. It eventually evolves and grows into a beautiful butterfly.
The larvae that turned to become the butterfly underwent change from the potential larvae to
its full actuality. This can be likened to what Aristotle says that every human person aspires for
an end. This end is happiness or human flourishing. And no one resists happiness because we
all want to be happy.

• Materialism

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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. Accordingly, the world including human
beings, is made up of matter and there is no need to possess immaterial entities as sources of
purpose. Atoms 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. The material
things we possess give us ultimate happiness. We see this at work with most people who are
clinging on to material wealth as the primary source of meaning of their existence.

• Hedonism

Hedonism usually pre-supposes an individualist stance, and is associated with Egoism

(the claim that individuals should always seek their own good in all things). Epicureanism is a
more moderate approach (which still seeks to maximize happiness, but which defines happiness
more as a state of tranquility than pleasure). A similar but more altruistic approach results in
Utilitarianism, the position that the moral worth of any action is determined by its contribution
to overall utility in maximizing happiness or pleasure as summed among all people.

The Paradox of Hedonism (also called the Pleasure Paradox), points out that pleasure and
happiness are strange phenomena that do not obey normal principles, in that they cannot be
acquired directly, only indirectly and we often fail to attain pleasures if we deliberately seek
them.

The term "hedonism" is derived from the Greek "hedone" meaning simply "pleasure". In
common language, Hedonism has come to mean devotion to pleasure as a way of life, especially
to the pleasures of the senses, and is synonymous with sensualism, libertinism, debauchery and
dissipation.

The Hedonists see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure. Pleasure has always been the
priority of hedonists. For them life is obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited.
They believe that pleasure give meaning to their life without thinking of the future. The mantra
of this school of thought is the famous, “Eat, drink and merry for tomorrow we will die.

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 • Stoicism

Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics, exposed the idea that to generate
happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. The original term apatheia,
precisely means to be indifferent. These group believe that they can do things at their own and
believe that happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy.

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• Theism

Theism (pronounced THEE-ism) means “belief in one or more gods.” It covers a huge
range of religious beliefs, notably the Abrahamic monotheisms, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Theism refers to any kind of belief in any god or gods, so it is difficult to make any other
generalizations about it. Two people may both say they believe in God, so they’re both theists;
but what they mean by “God” could be completely different. This does however raise the
interesting question of what all gods have in common—in order to be called gods; but since this
is a matter of belief, not fact, we shall not attempt such a definition here.

Belief in God is also normally

attached to other beliefs, such as belief in
an afterlife or the soul. However, theism
can also refer to religions with extremely
different beliefs, such as reincarnation.
Most people find the meaning of their lives
using God as the fulcrum of their
existence. The Philippines, as
predominantly country, is witness to how
people base their life goals on beliefs that
hinged on some form of supernatural
reality called heaven. The ultimate basis of
happiness for theists is the communion [Link]
with God. DED71493688733F5529CA7CF7/pope-francis-philippines-luneta-20150118-024
 • 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. They see themselves not merely as stewards
of the creation but as individuals who are in control of
themselves and the world outside them.

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.

Application

“My Ideal Technology”

• You will be needing the following materials in the activity below.

✓ Coloring pens/crayons, Pentel pen, Pencil, Colored old magazines, Pictures from the
web, Scissors, Glue, Bond papers (any size)

• Using the materials listed, make a good life collage by cutting pictures in magazines or
newspapers that demonstrate how technology has made the man’s desire for a happy life
more realizable. You may opt to print pictures using the web and cut it to include in your
collage.

Criteria 1 2 3 4
Variety of pictures limited variety of adequate variety of good variety of excellent variety of
 used to develop pictures used to pictures used to pictures used to pictures used to
main idea develop the main develop the main develop the main develop the main
idea idea idea idea
Ideas few original ideas in some original ideas several original many original ideas
 originality material or display in material or ideas in material or in material and
 interest are evident to display are evident display are evident display are evident
stimulate interest to stimulated some to stimulate much and stimulate a
interest interest great deal of
interest
Relevance of little material some material material selected is material selected is
material selected is relevant selected is relevant mostly relevant and all relevant and
 connected to and rarely and somewhat connected to the clearly connected to
main idea connected to the connected to the main idea the main idea
main idea main idea
 Visual Impact overall visual impact Overall visual overall visual impact overall visual impact
 effectiveness of is limited impact is somewhat is effective is very effective
overall presentation effective

Assessment

Using the table below, list down the different advantages and disadvantages of
the different schools of thought in attaining good life and happiness.

School of Thought Advantages Disadvantages

Materialism

Hedonism

Stoicism

Theism

Humanism

References

1. Blitz, M. (2014). “Understanding Heidegger on Technology,” The New Atlantis, Number 41, Winter, pp
63-80
2. Mcnamara et al., (2018). Science, Technology and Society. C & E Publishing, Inc.
3. Patria, Javier et al. Science, Technology and Society, pp 63-74
4. Serafica et al., (2018). Science, Technology and Society. Rex Bookstore
5. Macat Thinking News. (2006) Aristotle’s Secret to Happiness: What will make ushappy now? Accessed
February 3, 2017. [Link] -secret-happiness
6. The Basics of Philosophy. (2008). Theism. Accessed February
3,[Link]://[Link]/branch_theism.htm