Defining the Good Life

Aristotle believes that the god life can be achieved either through moral virtue or intellectual virtue. Moral virtue includes characteristics like courage, gentleness and truthfulness. Intellectual virtue is the excellence of the mind and understanding. Aristotle defines the purpose of the human being as “the activity of the soul of the human body in accordance with reason”. Moral virtue is used as a means to a goal and when we reach that goal Aristotle defines this as happiness. Most people define happiness with pleasure, wealth and honor. Aristotle rebukes all these, saying that living like this would be to live like cattle. Human want to live for a final good or complete happiness. Aristotle says this that complete self sufficience is the ultimate goal. Camus take this meaning of a “good life” and happiness one step further. Camus is an existentialist and the absurd. The absurd is the fact that humans crave meanings but we must come to the realization that there is no meaning. Life would be too hard to live if there was no meaning, therefore we create a belief system, like religion. Both Camus and Aristotle give life a sort of goal. Aristotle says we must strive for happiness and Camus states that we must create a belief and life with passion. Watts states that we do not even realize that our own thoughts are not our own. We think and speak a language we did not create and identify with man made objects. Watts is almost saying that everything that Camus and Aristotle say is all a perception of things we did not create.

I believe all these ideas operate in my life. Aristotle rejects the superfical definitions of happiness and asks us humans to strive for an ultimate goal. Camus states that even though life has no meaning we must live with passion. Watts brings society into question and our own thoughts as well. I think that Camus' ideas can help me achieve a good life. By ignoring all these things claiming to the have the answers to the good life and just live with passion. Living by Watts ideas I think I would question too much and not just live.