Lesson 2

The Good Life and the Role of

Technology to Achieve It

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Introduction:
 In ancient Greece, long before the word “Science” has been coined, the need to
understand the world and reality was bound with the need to understand the self and the good
life. For Plato, the task of understanding the things in the world runs parallel with the job of truly
getting into what will make the soul flourish. In attempt to understand reality and the external
world, man must seek to understand himself, too. It was Aristotle who gave a definitive
distinction between the theoretical and practical sciences. Among the theoretical disciplines,
Aristotle included logic, biology, physics, and metaphysics, among others. Among the practical
ones, Aristotle counted ethics and politics. Whereas “truth’ is the aim of the theoretical sciences,
the “good” is the end goal of the practical ones.
Every attempt to know is connected in some way in an attempt to find the “good” or as
said in the previous lesson, the attainment of human flourishing. Rightly so, one must find the
truth about what the good is before one can even try to locate that which is good.

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:
1. examine what is meant by a good life;
2. identify how humans attempt to attain what is deemed to be a good life; and
3. recognize possibilities available to human being to attain the good life.

Duration Class = 3 hours

Lesson Proper
According to Aristotle, the good life is the happy life, as he believes happiness is an end
in itself. In the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle develops a theory of the good life, also known as
eudaimonia, for humans. Eudaimonia is perhaps best translated as flourishing or living well and
doing well. Therefore, when Aristotle addresses the good life as the happy life, he does not mean
that the good life is simply one of feeling happy or amused. Rather, the good life for a person is
the active life of functioning well in those ways that are essential and unique to humans.
Aristotle invites the fact that if we have happiness, we do not need any other things making it an
intrinsic value. In contrast, things such as money or power are extrinsic valuables as they are all
means to an end. Usually, opinions vary as to the nature and conditions of happiness. Aristotle
argues that although ‘pleasurable amusements’ satisfy his formal criteria for the good, since they
are chosen for their own sake and are complete in themselves, nonetheless, they do not make up
the good life since, “it would be absurd if our end were amusement, and we laboured and
suffered all our lives for the sake of amusing ourselves.”
Happiness can be viewed as wealth, honour, pleasure, or virtue. Aristotle believes that
wealth is not happiness, because wealth is just an economic value, but can be used to gain some
happiness; wealth is a means to further ends. The good life, according to Aristotle, is an end in
itself. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals
who honour in comparison to the honoree. Honour is external, but happiness is not.

Happiness as the Goal of Good Life

“Happiness depends on ourselves.” More than anybody else, Aristotle enshrines
happiness as a central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. As a result he devotes more
space to the topic of happiness than any thinker prior to the modern era. Living during the same
period as Mencius, but on the other side of the world, he draws some similar conclusions.
 That is, happiness depends on the cultivation of virtue, though his virtues are somewhat
more individualistic than the essentially social virtues of the Confucians. Yet as we shall see,
Aristotle was convinced that a genuinely happy life required the fulfillment of a broad range of
conditions, including physical as well as mental well-being. In this way he introduced the idea of
a science of happiness in the classical sense, in terms of a new field of knowledge.
Essentially, Aristotle argues that virtue is achieved by maintaining the Mean, which is the
balance between two excesses. Aristotle’s doctrine of the Mean is reminiscent of Buddha’s
Middle Path, but there are intriguing differences. For Aristotle the mean was a method of
achieving virtue, but for Buddha the Middle Path referred to a peaceful way of life which
negotiated the extremes of harsh asceticism and sensual pleasure seeking. The Middle Path was a
minimal requirement for the meditative life, and not the source of virtue in itself.

Materialism
Materialism, also called physicalism, in philosophy, the view that all facts (including
facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally dependent
upon physical processes, or even reducible to them.
The word materialism has been used in modern times to refer to a family
of metaphysical theories (i.e., theories of the nature of reality) that can best be defined by saying
that a theory tends to be called materialist if it is felt sufficiently to resemble a paradigmatic
theory that will here be called mechanical materialism.

Hedonism
Hedonism holds that the preponderance of pleasure over pain is the recipe for happiness
even if this is not what one desires most. Desire theory holds that that fulfillment of a desire
contributes to one's happiness regardless of the amount of pleasure (or displeasure).
Hedonism is a way of life, characterized by openness to pleasurable experience. There
are many qualms about hedonism. It is rejected on moral grounds and said to be detrimental to
long-term happiness. Several mechanisms for this 'paradox of hedonism' have been suggested
and telling examples of pleasure seekers ending up in despair have been given. But is that the
rule? If so, how much pleasure is too much? An overview of the available knowledge is given in
this paper. The relation between hedonism and happiness has been studied at two levels: that of
the nation and the individual. At the national level average happiness is correlated with moral
acceptance of pleasure and with active leisure. At the individual level it is similarly linked with
hedonistic attitudes and also correlated with hedonistic behaviours such as frequent sex and use
of stimulants. In most cases the pattern is linearly positive. The relation between happiness and
consumption of stimulants follows an inverted U-curve, spoilsports and guzzlers are less happy
than modest consumers.

Stoicism
Stoicism holds that the key to a good, happy life is the cultivation of an excellent mental
state, which the Stoics identified with virtue and being rational. The ideal life is one that is in
harmony with Nature, of which we are all part, and an attitude of calm indifference towards
external events.

Theism
 Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as 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 communication 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 a movement firstly emerged during the 14th century in Italy where it gave
significance to its epoch, the Renaissance. It involved a rebirth of the study of Greek and ancient
Latin authors that were unaffected by the Christian thoughts and explanations. Secondly,
humanism gained more popularity during the 17th-century enlightenment since it believed in
humanity’s ability to change nature and society according to its needs and aimed attention at the
importance of the value of human beings.
According to humanism thoughts, the meaning of life is not something waiting to be
discovered, but something that we create in our own lives. Therefore, in order for a human being
to give its life a meaning, one should pursue the happiness in life and help others to do the same.
Humanists reject the idea or belief in a supernatural being such as God. This means that
humanists class themselves as agnostic or atheist.
Humanists have no belief in an afterlife, and so they focus on seeking happiness in this
life. They rely on science for the answers to questions such as creation, and base their moral and
ethical decision-making on reason, empathy and compassion for others.
Humanists are concerned with human welfare and happiness and believe that this is the
one and only life and world they have.
As a result, they believe that people should make the most of their lives while on Earth.
However, they also believe that they have a duty to support others to live fulfilling lives too –
this includes people who are alive today as well as future generations.
Because humanists do not believe in any kind of god or supernatural force that will solve
their problems, they believe that human beings must take sole responsibility for solving the
world's environmental problems. Only humans are capable of finding the solutions that can lead
to a sustainable existence.