The Good Life

Posted by Colin Temple on October 2, 2008 in Ethics, Religion

This phrase comes up quite a bit in philosophy, and in religious studies.  Essentially, the good life is the life you want to be living.  It’s your goal, based on your values, and when you achieve the good life, you’ll be in a state of general contentment.

So what is the good life?  There are a few viewpoints that attempt to define the term:

  • A moral life, guided either by principle or by spiritual belief — making the “right” decision in every situation, whether or not it benefits you personally
  • A life marked by progressive achievements, such as winning competitions or climbing the corporate ladder
  • The accumulation of wealth, or at least financial freedom, as in the American Dream.  This enables the freedom to enjoy simple pleasures and escape the burdens of the world
  • A life of charity and servitude to people, or to God/a god

We all have different goals in our own life, and different things make us happy.  Some people truly enjoy wealth, while others would do better to live a simple, down-to-earth life. Is the good life always one that makes us happy, or is there some more important moral component to it?

What is the good life to you?

4 Comments on “The Good Life”

  1. Tom Humes | October 2nd, 2008 at 10:22 am

    Nice Site layout for your blog. I am looking forward to reading more from you.

    Tom Humes

  2. Max Coutinho | October 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    Hello!

    I must congratulate you for this extremely interesting article!

    What is the good life for me? It is a life lived to the utmost: more happiness about one’s experiences than regret (even if we choose badly we should be glad we did wrong for it is all part of living – at least we won’t wonder “what if…?”)!
    But specially it is fulfilling one’s mission on earth!

    Great post!

    Cheers

  3. lethe | October 6th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    This is an impressive site. I know you’re a web marketer and all, but the savvyness of design principles coupled with the intellect of a philosopher makes for a superb web cocktail. Count me in, I’m putting you on my blogroll and I’ll be checking on your posts.

    But I got carried away. Let me answer the question. The good life to me is something I can never attain. That’s why it’s so good. The good life to me is polar opposite of my intense personality, or let me say, it is me relaxing, and allowing myself to simply be.

  4. Colin Temple | October 7th, 2008 at 7:34 am

    Thank you!

    I certainly agree with the idea of the good life as always being just out of reach. It’s an ideal, and we often fall short of ideals. But whether or not we can achieve them purely, they’re still important to have, no?

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