Paths of a Good Life

531 Words3 Pages
Ethics & Moral Theory
Good Life Paper

For many people, achieving a good life is an essential objective. However, there are many components that define a good life, and there would be many paths one must take in order to achieve it. Life, as a whole, is quite complicated, so a good life requires one to follow several paths in order to reach their desired destination.
Let us begin by analyzing what defines a good life. There are many theories that answer this question, such as: hedonism, the desire satisfaction theory and the objective theory of human welfare. These theories provide valid points as to what a good life is composed of, but are also filled with many flaws. The more popular theory, hedonism, is adopted by many people, and it is the idea that happiness is of utmost importance in regards to leading a good life. It is commonly said that happiness is the only thing that matters and many people would be easily convinced by such a phrase. Although, this hedonistic view does not take into account the derivation of happiness and how costly it may be to obtain. A more accurate phrase would be “nothing in life is free”, and that can be directly applied to a hedonistic view. For example, if a person found happiness in murdering others, that would come at the obvious expense of one’s life. From a hedonistic perspective, that would not be any different than someone who finds happiness in eating their favourite meal, as long as they both boil down to the same amount of happiness. All theories that attempt to give a strict answer on how to lead a good life have some sort of essential flaw, and these flaws are formed because these theories are too focused on a single, narrow-minded point of view and fail to acknowledge their implications. This single minded view is toxic if one is attempting to achieve a good life. A true good life is much more than only
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