The Good Life

Question 1

What is the good life?

Answer 1

• People have different ideas of what constitutes the good life.
• Wrong pursuits may lead to tragic consequences.
• Correct pursuits may lead to flourishing.

Question 2

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.

Answer 2

ARISTOTLE (NICOMACHEAN ETHICS 2:2)

Question 3

Nicomachean Ethics and Modern Concepts

Answer 3

Eudaimonia- Eu-good, daimon- spirit= good life
Good life- happiness and virtue
Virtue- intellectual and mora

Question 4

Eudaimonia

Answer 4

• Eu-good, daimon- spirit= good life

Question 5

Good life

Answer 5

• happiness and virtue

Question 6

Virtue

Answer 6

• intellectual and mora

Question 7

The 4 Pillar of the Good life

Answer 7

1. Health
2. Wealth
3. Love
4. Happiness

Question 8

Golden Rule

Answer 8

Confucius: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

Aristotle: We should behave to others as we wish others to behave to us.

Buddhism: Hurt not others with that which pains thyself.

Christianity: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Question 9

Who said this Golden Rule?
What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

Answer 9

Confucius

Question 10

Who said this Golden Rule?
We should behave to others as we wish others to behave to us.

Answer 10

Aristotle

Question 11

Who said this Golden Rule?
Hurt not others with that which pains thyself.

Answer 11

Buddhism

Question 12

Who said this Golden Rule?
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Answer 12

Christianity

Question 13

King Solomon recognized the vanity of success:

Answer 13

“The eye is not
satisfied with seeing” (Ecclesiastes 1:8)

Question 14

Happiness as the goal of good life (schools of thought)

Answer 14

1. Materialism (Democritus & Leucippus)
2. Stoicism (Epicurus)
3. Hedonism
4. Theism
5. Humanism

Question 15

o The world is made up of indivisible units (atoms) that form everything randomly
o Materialism emphasizes physical substances as the core of existence, with no afterlife
o Happiness comes from material wealth.
o Ancient Greece – first materialist
* Classification of Materialism: Naïve materialism,
Dialectical materialism, Metaphysical materialism

Answer 15

Materialism (Democritus & Leucippus)

Question 16

Classification of Materialism:

Answer 16

1. Naïve materialism
2. Dialectical materialism
3. Metaphysical materialism

Question 17

o Happiness is found in accepting the moment without being controlled by desires or fears.
o Apathea (indifference) helps achieve happiness by
recognizing what’s beyond control

Answer 17

Stoicism (Epicurus)

Question 18

– happiness is attained by a careful practice of
apathy. We should adopt the fact that some things are not within our control. The sooner we realize this, the happier we can become. To generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic

Answer 18

Stoics

Question 19

o argues that the pursuit of pleasure and intrinsic goods are the primary or most important goals of human life.
o end goal in life is acquiring pleasure. Life is about obtaining and Indulging In pleasure because life Is limited.
o Their mantra: “ eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we die.”

Answer 19

Hedonism

Question 20

Strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus
pain) but when having finally gained that pleasure,
happiness remains stationary

Answer 20

Hedonist

Question 21

o Happiness is communion with God (Monotheism:
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.)
o Supreme Being or Deities are the foundation of happiness

Answer 21

Theism

Question 22

o A 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.
o Is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively.
o Refers to nontheistic life stance centered on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.
o inspired by the age of enlightenment

Answer 22

Humanism

Question 23

• see themselves 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 ways on how to improve the lives of its inhabitants.

Answer 23

Humanists

Question 24

• French philosopher
• Holds that technology is progressive and beneficial in many ways, it is also doubtful in many ways.
• Technological optimism believes that technology is the answer to all man’s problems.

Answer 24

Jacques Ellul (1912 - 1994)

Question 25

According to Ellul’s pessimistic arguments are:

Answer 25

➢ technological progress has a price ➢ technological progress creates more problems ➢ technological progress creates damaging effects ➢ technological progress creates unpredictable devastating effects

Question 26

The belief that technology can continually be improved and can Improve the lives of people, making the world a better place. If you are a techno-optimist, you think technology has consistently improved our lives for the better and is likely to do so in the future. In considering societal problems, you think that the solution lies in technological Innovation

Answer 26

Technological Optimism

Question 27

* The main concern of this view is the existence of someone or something which is governed by the norm of authenticity. * This view basically investigate the meaning of existence or being and is always faced with the selection must make with which the existent will commit himself to. * Martin Heidegger, a philosopher is one of the most known supporters of this philosophy. * The Question Concerning Technology is a work by Martin Heidegger, in which the author discusses the essence of technology

Answer 27

Existentialism

Question 28

Martin Heidegger (1889-1976 different modes of revealing:

Answer 28

o Physis - the arising of something from out of itself, naturally. o Poiesis - the bringing forth into presence by another , art or craft. o Techne - the activities, skills and knowledge of the craftsman or artist. It opens something up

Question 29

- the arising of something from out of itself, naturally.

Answer 29

Physis

Question 30

- the bringing forth into presence by another , art or craft

Answer 30

Poiesis

Question 31

- the activities, skills and knowledge of the craftsman or artist. It opens something up

Answer 31

Techne

Question 32

Heidegger’s analysis of technology in The Question Concerning Technology consists of three main ‘claims’:

Answer 32

o technology is “not an instrument”, it is a way of understanding the world o technology is “not a human activity”, but develops beyond human control o technology is “the highest danger”, risking us to only see the world through technological thinking.

Question 33

− means obedience and submission.

Answer 33

Piety

Question 34

* Modern technology is a new kind of revealing that Heidegger calls challenging “ which puts to nature the unreasonable demand that it supply energy which can be extracted and stored as such.

Answer 34

Modern technology : new kind of revealing

Question 35

* energy concealed in nature is unlocked, what is unlocked is transformed, * what is transformed is stored up, what is stored up is in turn distributed, * what is distributed is switched about ever anew. * As an example, he gives the hydroelectric plant, which isolates a river and transforms it into a power source.

Answer 35

Modern technology makes nature seem like it is at our command

Question 36

* Modern technology let’s us isolate nature and treat it as a “standing reserve” [Bestand]—that is, a resource to be stored for later utility.

Answer 36

Modern technology makes everything simply stand there for us waiting for us to use it

Question 37

* We seek to control or master technology. * The will to master becomes all the more urgent the more technology threatens to slip from human control. * Solution: WE NEED TO HAVE A FREE RELATION TO TECHNOLOGY.

Answer 37

Danger of Modern Technology