Since the beginning of time humans have searched for the good life. Over the centuries people have found multitudes of ways to interpret this ideal. For some it means to gain power and riches. For others it means to find themselves, or to be one with nature. Instead of trying to find something that may not be out there or yearn for something that another has, why can people not be content with what they have bestowed upon themselves? Living the good life does not have ties to materialistic things. It is not chasing after something that others may have. Living the good life is being satisfied with the simple necessities in life. These necessities are being loved, gaining knowledge, and people having contentment with the fruit of their labor. …show more content…
When people begin to covet what others have that is when they become unhappy since what they want is out of their reach. In Epicurus’ Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus writes to Menoeceus telling him the virtues of finding happiness in life. He specifically wrote about the different types of desires in life that are necessary and unnecessary. “We must also reflect that of desires some are natural, others are groundless;”(2) Here Epicurus is telling Menoeceus that you should only want for the things that are necessary because everything else has no purpose, therefore have no meaning to actual happiness. He also writes stating that, “... the living creature has no need to go in search of something that is lacking, nor to look for anything else by which the good of the soul and of the body will be fulfilled.” Meaning you do not see animals going about scavenging for something that they do not have, you seen them content with what they have. To continue on this idea of not coveting what you do not have, going back to Walt Whitman’s Give me the Silent Splendid Sun, he talks about longing to have the rural life style instead of the city life that he now has. He talks of the peace and serenity that he hopes to gain while out in the countryside but when coming to an end to describing his desire he realizes that he would miss his current life style. “While yet incessantly asking, still I adhere to my city; Day upon day, and year upon year, O city, walking your streets, Where you hold me enchain’d a certain time, refusing to give me up; . . . ” (77-78). After this line Whitman then goes on to stating all of the things that he would miss from his city lifestyle and then begins to take back his desires realizing what a good life he has already. The purpose of this poem is to show the readers to cherish what they presently have,
Intellectuals are philosophers, are writers, are artists. They are all those people who work with their minds by questioning the events that touch them and that are touched by them. To recall a Plato's famous allegory, we can say that intellectuals are those who are able to look beyond the shadows and never take concepts for granted. However, some questions as what their role is and, more specifically, whether they should be engaged in politics are still unanswerable. Over the years answers and behaviors towards the engaged culture have been various and we can assume that the intellectuals who cannot separate the two live their lives actively for they want to be part of the events that surround them and let awareness win over apathy. On the contrary, we can assume that those who let apathy win are the intellectuals that look at politics and culture as two different and specific concepts and live a solitary life far from society. However, this is not an appropriate judgment because it would be difficult to consider to which extent solitude can be regarded as cowardliness and to which extent action can be regarded as consciousness.
There have been many attempts at formulating a theory that accounts for our intuitions regarding the harm of death. Most theories attempt to account for this intuition by attributing the harm of death to a deprivation of some sort. That is a person is harmed when she dies because she is deprived of some good thing. This paper is a defense of Epicurius's argument regarding death as a response to deprivation theories.
Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher, is one of the most influential ancient thinkers. Epictetus believed the purpose of moral philosophy was to help show people the way to lead better lives. He believed that some things in this world are un-controllable and some things are controllable; some things are up to us and some things are not up to us. Epictetus believed our opinions, impulses, desires, aversions, or whatever is our own doing is up to us; however, our bodies, our possessions, our reputations, or whatever is not our own doing, is not up to us. He also believed that we should not try and control the world, but accept it and make the best out of every situation. Epictetus’ aim was to live well, to secure happiness and to offer different solutions as to how life was to be lived. I will attempt to summarize some of Epictetus’ disciplines in a way that will give a simple view on how one should live their life; and also try to interpret his views into modern day living so that through their application ones life will become simplified and therefore enhanced.
Every person in the world wants to be happy and what makes us happy? Well that would be pleasure. Pleasure is a feeling of happiness and satisfaction physically through our body and mentality in our mind. Everyone in the world will do anything for pleasure no matter what it is. But should every pleasure we seek be desired because not everything is free, but comes with a price? Is pleasure going to be our most important goal in life? Well to answer those questions, you should read Letter to Herodotus by Epicurus, who is a philosopher, and maybe he could answer that question. Epicurus will tell us how to live a full and successful life. Epicurus made Epicureanism where we will learn the important of pleasure and the decision that we made that will lead to happiness or the destruction of
What does it mean to “live well”? To live well can mean a variety of different things depending on who you are as an induvial. Each person has different ideas with how they feel they should live their life and what it means to live well. “One impulse from a vernal wood may teach you more of a man, of moral evil and of good, then all the sages can.” – William Wordsworth. To live well for one person may mean to forget the commotion around and seek nature for wisdom rather than look to books. For another living well may mean pursuing a dream in a city, right in the middle of all the commotion. More can be taught by the settings around then the things going on in daily life. In the film “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” protagonist Craig Gilner learns
As a worldview, Stoicism is a philosophical approach to help people to cope with times of great stress and troubles. In order to give comfort to humanity, the Stoics agree with the Pantheistic view that God and nature are not separate. Instead, the two forces are one. By believing that God is nature, humans have a sense of security because nature, like God, is recognized as rational and perfect. The perfection of nature is explained through the Divine, or natural, Law. This law gives everything in nature a predetermined plan that defines the future based on past evens (cause and effect). Because the goal for everything in nature is to fulfill its plan, the reason for all that happens in nature is because it is a part of the plan. It is apparent that, because this law is of God, it must be good. The Divine Law is also universal. Everything on the planet has a plan that has already been determined. There are no exceptions or limitations to the natural law. The world in the Stoics’ eyes is flawless, equal, and rational.
Epictetus was a philosopher that was born in 50 C.E.and died in 130 C.E., Epictetus was famous for his strong belief in self discipline. Unlike fellow philosopher Epicurus Epictetus does not believe that matter is the most important thing in the universe and that people should try to fulfill their pleasures. Epictetus believes that the most important thing in the universe is God. He believes that people should live their entire lives understanding where they stand in the cosmic universe. As stated in the book Great Traditions In Ethics Epictetus believes “That we are first to learn that there is a god; and that his providence directs the whole” (Denise, White, &
We might not have the same opinions, paths, and ways of living; but we all, millions of people around the world, share the same purpose of life: Being able to say “I am having a good life!” What we mean by “good life” is living in pure happiness and having a wonderful peace of mind. The difference between us is that each one of us chooses a different way in his pursuit of happiness. Some find it in stability with a big house, a family, and a good paying job. Some find it in adventure and wildness, travel, and taking risks. While others don’t really have specific criteria or an organized plan, they just believe that happiness comes with living each day as if it was the last, with no worries about the rest. Personally, I find it in trying to be the best version of myself, in staying true to my principles, and in the same time in being able to make my own decisions; which reminds me of what George Loewenstein said “Just because we figure out that X makes people happy and they're choosing Y, we don't want to impose X on them.”
What establishes a noble, valuable, enjoyable life? Many philosophers tried their own beliefs to these ancient and most persistent of philosophical question. Most of Philosophers have agreed that the best possible life is a life where the ideas of “virtue” and “happiness” are fulfilled. Nevertheless expected differences in terms, many great minds theorized that the road to a joyful, flourishing, happy life is paved with virtues. For example, Aristotle believed that anyone keen to live a virtuous life will reach happiness (Aristotle 1992). Also according to Roman Cicero, the bonds between virtue and happiness are very strong, that a virtuous person could still be happy even if he is tortured (McMahon 2006). In addition, Rosalind Hursthouse contended that owning virtue does not essentially result in happiness, as luck plays an irrefutable part in human’s life; however it is the best bet for a good life (Hursthouse 1999). Exactly the same like taking on a healthy routine is the best way for being healthy, although it does not assurance perfect health. In my opinion, there is a strong connection between virtue and happiness, yet there are some exceptions.
What is the meaning of a good life? How do we achieve the right to happiness? We live in a society full of suffering depressed people, terror, and mass murders.It is no wonder that there are so many monsters are in our society today.(The Making of a Monster 1)
There are many different interpretations of what the good life truly is. Individualists believe that the good life is pleasing oneself, while utilitarians believe that the good life is acting for the good of the rest of society. Philosophers, too, have their own interpretation. Plato alludes to the philosopher's good life when he uses the phrase "my greatest pleasure." The inherent subjectivity of the word "my" tells the reader that philosophical conversation may not necessarily be everyone's greatest pleasure.
However, we can wonder if the pleasures that derive from necessary natural desires are what actually brings us happiness, since having a family, friends, a good job and doing fun things seem to bring the most joy in life. Plato’s ideas on life are even more radical, since he claims that we should completely take difference from our bodily needs. Therefore it seems that we should only do what is necessary for us to stay a life and solely focus on the mind. Although both ways of dealing with (bodily)pleasure are quite radical and almost impossible to achieve, it does questions if current perceptions of ‘living the good life’ actually leads to what we are trying to achieve, which is commonly described as
Depending you are a man or a woman, there can be many aspects and opinions of the good life. Depending your rich or poor, there are many aspects. Some people say money is the key to a good life, but I do not think that. The age means something, but I have my opinion and have my own examples, and I will tell you, and can only speak for my self.
..., a person who earns $25,000 is happier than a person who makes $125,000 and an employee who makes $500,000 is only slightly happier than someone who makes $55,000. Lastly, there are more important things in life that and make you happy, for example, friends. They don’t come with a price tag, and if they do, you definitely need new friends. Money won’t make you happy since good times can’t be bought. You don’t need a fancy vacation to have a good time; it’s just a matter of who you spend it with. Over the years, humans have blown the value of money way out of proportion. People make it seem like if you’re not filthy rich, then you won’t live a good life but it’s not true. You can lack money and yet still live a perfect, happy life.
To better oneself, the only human condition that continues to appear no matter who you look at in most modern civilization. The process in which people better them self is they base their condition on the amount of material things that you have. This not only a bad way to judge ones importance it is the exact way of how to judge ones unhappiness or unsatisfactoryness with ones current life. People spend their entire life trying to better them self and with each accomplishment is met with the same problem as before, “I am still not happy.” The void that people feel inside, like they are not complete, cant be filled with materialistic things. This longing that is there after accomplish or get some material thing is what make life unsatisfactory. This is a grand doctrine of the Buddha. In fact it is one of his four noble truths. By using those truths. That life is dukkha ( unsatisfactory), This suffering is caused, Can be healed, and the way to roughhouses is through the eight fold path. These four truths can help explain why man can never seem to be truly satisfied.