Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Teleology

"The Good Life" refers to a eudaimonic, or virtue ethics, account of happiness.  By eudaimonia, the Greeks understood eu to refer to good, as in the words eulogy and euphoria; and daimonia refers to daimon, which is close to our demon, except without the negative connations, that is spiritedness.  So a eu-daimonia means good-spirited.

Eudaimonia is another way of saying "doing well and living well".  Thus, eudaimonia is not a state, but an activity.

Moreover, eudaimonia is the end or purpose or goal of human life, and all human life (all of nature), is for Aristotle, teleological.  Teleological means directed towards ends.  So we say that an acorn is directed towards the purpose of becoming a tree.

"The Good life" refers to the idea that happiness is the ultimate end, the end for which all other ends are themselves desired.  So all other ends are intermediate in relation to happiness.  Thus, we go to college for the sake of happiness, we take a nap for the sake of happiness, and we fall in love for the sake of happiness.  Everything is for the sake of happiness.

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