Subject:
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2. The Good Life
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 10 Mar 2000 09:06:56 GMT
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Viewed:
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1590 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Jeremy H. Sproat writes:
> Erik Olson wrote:
> > Christianity perpetuates ignorance about what the good life is,
>
>
> What then is the good life? Can you tell me that? Can anyone truthfully
> answer that question for anyone but themselves? It is not my place to tell
> you what you need to live the good life; nor is it your place to tell me.
The Good Life. Aristotle said the good life was to become happy by pursuing
the best goals, that is, to excel in whatever you are capable of. To be
the best example of what you are. That you are the purpose of your own
life, there is no higher purpose. Not his own words, of course, but we
could go into it.
The legacy of Aristotle is not so much the specifically Greek (or
Platonic) things he considered excellent, but to establish that life
is an end in itself, and that happiness is what you can get by living
it. This more than Christian dogma is the basis of the Declaration of
Independence.
If life is an end in itself, that implies that no one can tell you how
to live it exactly. Aristotle would recommend developing your mind
foremost, then enjoying refined things in a moderate fashion while
being generous to people who please you. But still you must devise
your own plan. This remarkable wellspring of "tolerance" is what a
secular philosophy can do for the cause of freedom.
Christianity doesn't consider these things paramount. I do.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Does God have a monopoly on gods?
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| (...) It's funny you mention that. An article of my church's faith declares that "we belive that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression." (...) What then is the good life? Can you tell me that? Can anyone (...) (25 years ago, 9-Mar-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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