Drawing the Good Life

This week in class we approached our investigation of the good life in a new way: we decided to draw the good life. I must admit, I hadn't actually sat down to draw in a long time--it was fun! I was also struck by the "openness" of the class. Class members stood up and shared their drawing with everyone else, discussing hopes and dreams. That is not always easy to do. So, thanks to all of you for being so willing to share in class.

But, I think there is some basic philosophical importance in our drawing activity as well. At the end of class we started to think about this: did our drawings of the good life "match up" with any of the philosophical theories we have read (the ethical theories of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Mill, or Rand)? For example, perhaps Nakia's drawing of donating to St. Jude's relates to Aristotle's virtuous action. Or, perhaps drawings centering on successful careers relates to Ayn Rand's "self-interest." These are just possible examples of drawings "matching up" with a philosophical theory.

Now, think about your own drawing and the philosophers we have read. If you were to match your drawing to one of theories we have discussed which would it be (such as Mill on creating the "greatest happiness for all", Rand's "self-interest", Socrates' virtue, or Aristotle's focus on virtuous action)? As best as you can, explain why you see a connection between your drawing and the particular philosopher/theory you chose. It will be helpful to look back at class notes/readings/handouts on these philosophers.

Taking Stock of the Good Life

How time flies by--here we are 8 weeks into the class! What a great time it has been! And, I wonder, are we any closer to determining what it means to live "the good life"? We definitely have had some great discussions while exploring this question. Along the way every person in class has offered up some potential clues to the solution of our problem. Class members have argued for the importance of friendship, family, education, virtues (such as bravery, loyalty, and honesty), forgiveness, pleasure, money....(the list goes on).

So, it is safe to say that we are all deep into the philosophical question of the good life. What I want to do now, then, is take some time to reflect on the different philosophers we have read and their answers to this question. Specifically, which philosopher's idea of the good life do you agree with most and why? For example, Aristotle locates the good life in happiness coming from virtuous actions; Ayn Rand locates the good life in pursuing one's own rational self-interest, or, being "selfish"; John Stuart Mill locates the good life in the Greatest-happiness principle--we are living a good life for him if we are promoting pleasure and preventing pain for the majority of people in our society. Our job is to reflect on these different answers to our question and try to determine which works best.