Southwestern College of Maritime, Business and Technology, Inc.

Quezon Drive, Calero, Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro

www.scmbt.edu.ph / slmifnav.official@gmail.com / slmifnav@yahoo.com.ph

SUBJECT: Science, Technology, and Society MODULE #: 5

SECTION: TEACHER: Ms. Princes Jhoy G. Batanes

I. TOPIC: Good Life

II. TARGET OUTCOMES

At the end of the lesson, the student is expected to:
1. Explain the concept of good life as posited by Aristotle.
2. Define the good life in their own words.
3. Recognize possibilities available to human being to attain the good life.

III. MATERIALS NEEDED

To accomplish exercises and activities, you need the following: black pen, pencil and/or other writing
materials and other available references

IV. GEAR UP YOUR MIND

Everyone is in pursuit of the good life. We do certain things because we want to achieve a life
which will make us happy and content. By studying and working hard, we try to attain this goal not only for
ourselves but also for our loved ones and the rest of humanity. People’s definition of the good life may vary
and differ in the particulars. In general, however, we recognize universal truths that cut across our
differences.

1.1 Nichomachean Ethics and Modern Concepts

Aristote, an important ancient Greek philosopher whose work spans from natural philosophy to
logic and political theory, attempted to explain what the good is. His definition may be useful in our pursuit
of the truth. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated: 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 (Nicomachean Ethics 2:2).

Everyone is moving towards the good. Thus, completing one’s studies, training for a sport, or
taking a rest is a good. The good is expressed and manifested in many various ways for different persons

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and circumstances. The good life, however, is more than these countless expressions of what is good. It is
characterized by happiness that springs from living and doing well.

. . .both the many and the cultivated call it happiness, and suppose that living well and doing well
are the same as being happy (Nicomachean Ethics 1:4).

The ancient Greeks called this concept of “living well and doing well” as eudaimonia. The word
came from the Greek word eu meaning “good” and daimon meaning “spirit”. Taken together, it generally
refers to the good life, which is marked by happiness and excellence. It is a flourishing life filled with
meaningful endeavors that empower the human person to be the best version of himself/herself if done is a
student, then he/she acts to be the best version of a student by studying well and fulfilling the demands of
school. If one is an athlete, then he/she strives to be the best version of an athlete by training hard as well
as joining and winning in sports competitions.

Furthermore, according to Aristotle, happiness is the ultimate end of human action. It is that which
people pursue for its own sake. Financial stability for one’s family, the power achieved from winning the
elections, or the harmony and peace as a reward for taking care of the environment—all these and more
are pursued for the sake of happiness.

Now such a thing as happiness above all else, is held to be; for this we choose always for itself and never
for the sake of something else, but honor, pleasure, reason, and every virtue we choose indeed for
themselves, but we choose them also for the sake of happiness, on the other hand, no one chooses for
anything other than itself (Nicomachean Ethics 2:7).

Happiness defines a good life. This happens, however, is not the kind that comes from sensate
pleasures. It is that which comes from living a life of virtue, a life of excellence, manifested from the
personal to the global scale.

It is the activities that express virtue that control happiness, and the contrary activities that control
its contrary (Nicomachean Ethics 1:10).

For example, making sure that one avoids sugary and processed foods to keep healthy is an
activity that expresses virtue. The resulting health adds to one’s well-being and happiness. Another
example is taking care of the environment through proper waste management which results in a clean
environment and adds to people’s well-being and happiness. These virtuous actions require discipline and
practice. On the other hand, activities contrary to virtue are those which do not result in happiness. The lack
of discipline in eating healthful food eventually makes one sick. The lack of concern for the environment

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destroys the Earth we live in. Thus, disregard for virtuous actions, especially for the sake of convenience
and gratification, does not contribute to happiness. The good life is marked by happiness brought about by
virtuous human actions and decisions that affect the individual self and the greater community. It is
characterized by a life of flourishing of oneself and of others. The goof life does not happen in a bubble
where only one person is flourishing; others have to be in it, too.

Virtue plays a significant role in the living and attainment of the good life. It is the constant practice
of the good no matter how difficult the circumstances maybe. Virtue is the excellence of character that
empowers one to do and be good. Such virtue is cultivated with habit and discipline as it is not a one-time
deed, but a constant and consistent series of actions. Everyone has the capacity within himself/herself to
be good, but he/she also has to be disciplined to make a habit of exercising the good.

Virtues, 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).

The onward progress of science and technology is also the movement towards the good life.
Science and technology are one of the highest expressions of human faculties. They allow is to thrive and
flourish in life if we so desire it. Science and technology may also corrupt a person, but grounding oneself in
virtue will help him/her steer clear of danger.

1.2 Happiness as the Goal of a Good Life

In the 18th century, 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. At a
time when people, were skeptical about claims on the metaphysical, people could not make sense of the
human flourishing that Aristotle talked about in the days of old. Mill said that individual happiness of each
individual should be prioritized and collectively dictates the kind of action that should be endorsed.
Consider the pronouncements against mining. When an action benefits the greatest number of people, said
action is deemed ethical. Does mining benefit rather than hurt the majority? Does mining result in more
people getting happy rather than sad? If the answers to the said questions are in the affirmative, then the
said action, mining, is deemed ethical.

The ethical, of course, meant to lead us to the good and happy life/ through the ages, as has been
expounded in the previous chapters, man has constantly struggled with the external world in order to reach
human flourishing. History has given birth to different schools of thought, all of which aim for the good and
happy life.

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Materialism
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. For Democritus and his disciples, the world, including human beings, is made up of
matter. There is no need to posit immaterial entities as sources of purpose. Atomos 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. We see this at work with most people who are
clinging on to material wealth as the primary source of the meaning of their existence.

Hedonism
The hedonist, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure. Pleasure has always
been the priority of hedonists. For them, life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is
limited. The mantra of this school of thought is the famous, “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.”
Led by Epicurus, this school of thought also does not buy any notion of afterlife just like the materialists.

Stoicism
Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics espoused the idea that to generate
happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. The original term, apatheia, precisely
means to be indifferent. For the stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy. We
should, in this worldview, adopt the fact that some things are not within our control. The sooner we realize
this, the happier we can become.

Theism
Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as a fulcrum of their existence. The
Philippines, as a predominantly Catholic 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 theist is
the communion with God. The world where we are in is only just a temporary reality where we have to
maneuver around while waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of God.

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. Inspired by the enlightenment in seventeenth century, humanists
see themselves not merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves
and the world outside them. This is the spirit of most scientists who thought that the world is a place and
space for freely unearthing the world in seeking for ways on how to improve the lives of its inhabitants.

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