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The Good Life

The document discusses different schools of thought on what constitutes "The Good Life", including Aristotle's view of happiness being achieved through virtue and human flourishing, materialism which sees happiness coming from material possessions, hedonism which prioritizes pleasure, stoicism which advocates detachment from desires, theism which sees meaning through religion and communication with God, and humanism which sees humans as in control of their own destiny. The document also discusses how these different views have influenced society and technology.

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Sheena Mae Ramos
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35 views12 pages

The Good Life

The document discusses different schools of thought on what constitutes "The Good Life", including Aristotle's view of happiness being achieved through virtue and human flourishing, materialism which sees happiness coming from material possessions, hedonism which prioritizes pleasure, stoicism which advocates detachment from desires, theism which sees meaning through religion and communication with God, and humanism which sees humans as in control of their own destiny. The document also discusses how these different views have influenced society and technology.

Uploaded by

Sheena Mae Ramos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The

Good
Life
z
Science,
Technology and
Society
What is The Good Life as
z
Perceived by different
schools of thought?

 Aristotle and Good Life

 Materialism

 Hedonism

 Stoicism

 Theism

 Humanism
z
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 worlds 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
z
and Good Life

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.
z
Aristotle and Good Life

Look at the plant in the picture. It eventually


germinates and grows into a plant. The seed
that turned to become the plant underwent
change from the potential plant, that is, the
see 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.
z
Materialism
The first materialists were the atomist in Ancient
Greece. Democritus and Leucippus lead 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.
z
Materialism
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 the
material wealth as the primary source of meaning of
their existence.
z
Hedonism
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”
z 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.
This group believe that they can do
things at their own and believe
happiness can only be attained by
careful practice of apathy.
z
Theism
Most people find the meaning of their lives
using God as the fulcrum of their
existence.

The Philippines, as a predominant Catholic


country, is witness to how people base their life
goal on beliefs that hinged on some form of
supernatural reality called heaven.

The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is


the communication with God.
z

Humanism

Humanism is 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.
z

Humanism

As a result pf the motivation of the humanist,


scientists eventually turned to technology in
order to ease the difficulties 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.

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