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Todays Commonly Held Perceptions Regarding the Good Life Questions

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Ethics
1. What are today's commonly held perceptions regarding the good life? In other
words, what makes a "good life"? Where do people learn these ideas?
Good life refers to the desired condition that is majorly associated with high living
standards or sticking to and respecting the moral and ethical laws (Seligman 15). It can be
expressed either through living in luxury or having a lifestyle full of an abundance of belongings
or the trying to live based on the legal, religious, and moral laws of an individual's culture or
country. Therefore, this term can be defined as the struggle for material belongings, wealth,
luxuries, and the struggle to come up with an honest, meaningful, and worthwhile existence.
In the life context, each and every person have their distinct opinion regarding what the
definition of the good life is. Something good depends on several aspects in which the ideas
concerning the good life are obtained. These include the places people live in, the experiences
people have in their childhood, and the strengths which we value in us and in others.
2. Take a minute to reflect on these three views (the political, philosophical, and
hedonistic life). Do you align with one over the other? Can you think of examples of
people or places that emphasize one of these views?
The philosophical view of life suggests that life is a factor of existence that evaluates,
processes, reacts and develops through reproduction, metabolism, and growth. The major
difference between life and non-life is the fact that life makes use of conscious and physical

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development (Seligman 15). Hedonistic life suggests the philosophy of pleasure. This implies
doing anything that brings a person the largest amount of pleasure, with no consideration of the
consequences. Political life refers to the practices which involve decisions among groups, or
other power associations among people, like distribution of resources.
In the comparison of political life and hedonistic life, I would align with the political life,
which involves decision making based on the people's interests, e.g., fair and equal distribution
of resources. Hedonism, on the other hand, involves doing anything that pleases a person. This
may have a lot of negative effects than positive effects. For example, if you eat a lot of candy,
you may enjoy doing so to the fullest since no one restricts you from the act; however, you will
later begin to experience stomachaches and having rotten teeth a consequence. It, therefore,
means that acting hedonistically contributes to more pain than pleasure.
3. Describe how Aristotle would practically define the good life?
Aristotle tries to build a framework by coming up with an understanding concerning the
better good for people. He suggests that most to many people, the better good comes in either
through wealth acquisition, going after the honor of meeting the pleasures of the body. Due to
this, the majority of individuals act accordingly. They seek riches, satisfaction, and honor and
therefore hope to achieve happiness ultimately. However, Aristotle acknowledges that none of
the mentioned facets can act as the highest good.
At first, Aristotle argues that riches are used basically to achieve other things. Wealth in
itself can, therefore, not make a person happy (Seligman 15). Secondly, a person's happiness
must not necessarily be contributed by honor. Rather, honor is basically sought to transform the
perception others have of us. Thirdly, the need to satisfy an individua's bodily needs is not
something restricted to human beings only. Pleasure is also sought by animals as well.

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Surname 1 Student's Name Instructor's Name Curse Date Ethics 1. What are today's commonly held perceptions regarding the good life? In other words, what makes a "good life"? Where do people learn these ideas? Good life refers to the desired condition that is majorly associated with high living standards or sticking to and respecting the moral and ethical laws (Seligman 15). It can be expressed either through living in luxury or having a lifestyle full of an abundance of belongings or the trying to live based on the legal, religious, and moral laws of an individual's culture or country. Therefore, this term can be defined as the struggle for material belongings, wealth, luxuries, and the struggle to come up with an honest, meaningful, and worthwhile existence. In the life context, each and every person have their distinct opinion regarding what the definition of the good life is. Something good depends on several aspects in which the ideas concerning the good life are obtained. These include the places people live in, the experiences people have in their childhood, and the strengths which we value in us and in others. 2. Take a minute to reflect on these three views (the political, philosophical, and hedonistic life). Do you align with one over the other? Can you think of examples of people or places that emphasize one of these views? The philosophical view of life suggests that life is a factor of existence that evaluates, processes, reacts and develops through reproduction, ...
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