A good lifea life abounding in material comforts and luxuries a life lived according to the moral and religious laws of one's culture. a life marked by a high standard of living Elements of a good life are experiencing pleasure, avoiding negative experience, seeking self-development, or making contributions to others. The Good Life, mentioned by Kanye West is about living life drama and worry free. Do your thing, be thankful for what you have, and take full advantage of everything you do have while still improving on your situation. The Good Life usually consists of being healthy, having confidence, having fun, partying with different people. Try not to become jealous of other people and don’t make a big deal out of everything in life. Just live your life, have fun, be positive, and you will be living The Good Life. by Emrys Westacott Updated September 01, 2016 What is “the good life”? This is one of the oldest philosophical questions. It has been posed in different ways–How should one live? What does it mean to “live well”?– but these are really just the same question After all, everyone wants to live well, and no- one wants “the bad life.” But the question isn’t as simple as it sounds. Philosophers specialize in unpacking hidden complexities, and the concept of the good life is one of those that needs quite a bit of unpacking. For what do phrases like “the good life,” or “living well,” mean. They can be understood in at least three ways. 1. THE MORAL LIFE One basic way in which we use the word “good” is to express moral approval. So when we say that someone is living well or that they have lived a good life, we may simply mean that they are a good person, someone who is courageous, honest, trustworthy, kind, selfless, generous, helpful, loyal, principled, and so on. They possess and practice many of the most important virtues. And they don’t spend all their time merely pursuing their own pleasure; they devote a certain amount of time to activities that benefit others, perhaps through their engagement with family and friends, or through their work, or through various voluntary activities. many people do not receive their reward in this life. drink. It suggests that they are devoted to what some have called the “lower” pleasures such as sex. fundamentally at odds with himself and the world. or. It is worth noting. though. is known as hedonism. Christian martyrs went singing to their deaths confident that they would soon be in heaven. In fact. that a good man who has his eyes gouged out and is tortured to death is more fortunate than a corrupt person who has uses wealth and power dishonorably. it’s fun. whereas the wicked person. and sensual indulgence in general. while evil actions and desires will be punished. Epicurus was thought by some of his contemporaries to be advocating and practicing this sort of lifestyle. wealth. Hindus expect that the law of karma will ensure that their good deeds and intentions will be rewarded. He argues that it is much better to suffer wrong than to do it. he claims enjoys a sort of inner harmony.This moral conception of the good life has had plenty of champions. though. Plato bolsters his argument with an speculative account of an afterlife in which virtuous people are rewarded and wicked people are punished. THE LIFE OF PLEASURE The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus was one of the first to declare. Now. Pleasure is enjoyable. And in most religions such piety will be rewarded. no matter how rich and powerful he may be or how many pleasure he enjoys. that in both the Gorgias and the Republic. has slightly negative connotations. is pious. or power. Socrates takes this position to an extreme. Many religions also conceive of the good life in moral terms as a life lived according to God’s laws. food.pleasant! The view that pleasure is the good. this is a misrepresentation of Epicureanism. is disharmonious. bluntly. to put I another way. that what makes life worth living is that we can experience pleasure. the word “hedonist. Socrates and Plato both gave absolute priority to being a virtuous person over all other supposedly good things such as pleasure. Plato develops this argument in greater detail.” when applied to a person. A person who lives this way. In his masterpiece. But devout believers are confident that their piety will not be in vain. it’s……well…. either in this life or in future lives. obeying the commandments and performing the proper rituals. In Plato’s dialogue Gorgias.. Epicurus certainly praised all kinds of pleasures. The morally good person. But he didn’t advocate that we lose ourselves in sensual debauchery for various reasons: doing so will probably reduce our pleasures in the long run since over-indulgence tends to cause health problems and limit the range of pleasure we enjoy. and even today an “epicure” is someone who is especially appreciative of food and drink. the Republic. 2. . Obviously. that pleasure is what makes life worth living. we all want to be happy. It’s also important that certain objective conditions be satisfied. Today. But Aristotle’s idea of what it means to live well is objectivist rather than subjectivist. The good life has to be virtuous. we value leisure because it gives us time to pursue our interests. another great Greek thinker. He agrees with Socrates that to live the good life one must be a morally good person. Even in everyday speech. we value money because it enables us to buy things we want. Imagine a powerful sadist who spends much of his time gratifying cruel desires. 3. So for Aristotle. the good life is the happy life. But what does that mean? Today. if we say someone is “living the good life. and their life is happy if this is true for them most of the time. For instance: Virtue: They must be morally virtuous. On this view. this hedonistic conception of the good life is arguably dominant in Western culture. But happiness is something we value not as a means to some other end but for its own sake. a person is happy if they are enjoying a positive state of mind. It has intrinsic value rather than instrumental value. THE FULFILLED LIFE If Socrates emphasizes virtue and Epicurus emphasizes pleasure. Aristotle.” and a happy life is one that contains many “feel good” experiences. It isn’t just a matter of how a person feels inside. views the good life in a more comprehensive way. he fully agreed with him on this point. Although Epicurus disagreed with Plato about the value of pleasure. Or imagine a pot smoking. many people automatically think of happiness in subjectivist terms: to them. lounging by the pool in the sun with a cocktail and a beautiful partner. though. skiing. We value many things because they are a means to other things: for instance. According to Aristotle. What is key to this hedonistic conception of the good life is that it emphasizes subjective experiences. scuba diving. although that does matter. to describe a person as “happy” means that they “feel good. There is a problem with this way of thinking about happiness in this way. These people may have plenty of pleasurable subjective experiences. We can’t really say someone is living the good life if they are often miserable or constantly suffering. beer guzzling couch potato who does nothing but sit around all day watching old TV shows and playing video games. the so-called “higher” pleasures such as friendship and study are at least as important as “pleasures of the flesh. But should we really describe them as “living well”? Aristotle would certainly say no. good wine. .” we probably mean that they enjoying lots of recreational pleasures: good food. Health: They should enjoy good health and a reasonably long life. And he agrees with Epicurus that a happy life will involve many and varied pleasurable experiences. They may. a church. scientific research. Or they may be thoroughly immersed in and engaged with some particular community: e. or a misanthrope. even if they report that they are content. They should enjoy the respect of others. If. during the child raising years. According to Aristotle human beings are innately social.g. engaging in scientific enquiry. For many people. or scholarship. This is an example of Aristotle’s common sense. In ancient times. 4. Of course. Prosperity: They should be comfortably off (for Aristotle this meant affluent enough so that they don’t need to work for a living doing something that they would not freely choose to do). so the good life can’t be that of a hermit. They must exercise their uniquely human abilities and capacities. at the end of your life. But even though having children may not make people happier. for instance. it does seem to give them the sense that their lives are more meaningful. a soccer team. So people who are able to pursue their calling are generally regarded as extremely fortunate. then you could reasonably claim to have lived well. They may devote themselves to a cause: e. philosophical discussion. there can be other sources of meaning in a person’s life. pursue a particular kind of work with great dedication: e. So the good life is one in which a person cultivates and exercises their rational faculties by. But it’s still true that we think the ideal circumstance is to be doing for a living what you would choose to do anyway. for instance. Aristotle argues that what separates human beings from the other animals is reason. Any life can be rendered unhappy by tragic loss or misfortune. Aristotle doesn’t think that fame or glory is necessary. just as the desire for excessive wealth can. They need good luck. especially their children and grandchildren. protecting the environment. They have to work for a living. THE MEANINGFUL LIFE A lot of recent research shows that people who have children are not necessarily happier than people who don’t have children. But obviously. artistic creation.g. This outlook goes back a very long way. Indeed. and especially when the children have turned into teenagers. you can check all these boxes. Were he alive today he might well include some forms of technological innovation. or legislation. Friendship: They must have good friends. to have achieved the good life. the well-being of their family. a recluse. in fact. is the main source of meaning in life. a person’s qualities and achievements will be recognized by others. artistic creation. the great majority of people today do not belong to the leisured class as Aristotle did. fighting against racism. a craving for fame can lead people astray. parents typically lower levels of happiness and higher levels of stress.g. This is why the couch potato is not living well. the definition of good fortune was to have lots of children who do well for themselves. a school. But ideally. THE FINISHED LIFE . For sometimes a person can appear to live a fine life.–yet eventually be revealed as something other than what we thought they were. meaning. the British TV personality who was much admired in his lifetime but who. But surely. There is wisdom in this.org/ Biochar Research and development . Cases like this bring out the great advantage of an objectivist rather than subjectivist notion of what it means to live well.The Greeks had a saying: Call no man happy until he’s dead. prosperity. after he died.warmheartworldwide. friendship. A truly good life is one that is both enviable and admirable in all or most of the ways outlined above Ad www. Jimmy Saville may have enjoyed his life. In fact. etc. A good example of this Jimmy Saville. and be able to check all the boxes– virtue. one might want to amend it to: Call no man happy until he’s long dead. we would not want to say that he lived the good life. respect. was exposed as a serial sexual predator.