Thinking about a Good Life

Everyone has a different take on what a "good life" is. Some believe that being happy constitutes a good life and others believe that devoting yourself to a cause and living selflessly and aiding others is the way to live "the good life". According to Aristotle, a good life is achieved through a certain balance as well as functioning the way nature intended you to function. In the article 'Aristotle and the good life' it is said he believes one must control their selfish impulses and give to others in order to take steps closer to the good life. He believes that things function in certain ways, for example a pen is considered good and usable is it writes on paper other wise it has failed in functioning effevtively. He says that if one gives way to impulses they will lead a disordered life and not achieve "the good life".

I do not entirely agree on Aristole's stand point. While I do agree that one should have order in their life, being entirely selfless is something no living being is capable of. We come into this world seeking the aid of our parents, and giving nothing in return. When we are children we rely on our gaurdians to care for us, we wake them up when they are sleeping for our needs; we are the epitome of selfish beings, however that is not necessarily a bad thing. While it is essential that we give back in some way and find a meaning to our life and give our all, it would stretch us thin if we did not take time to do things for ourselves, to give into our desires and dance between the lines of what Aristole dubs the "ordered and disorderly" life.

Albert Camus provides a balance to Aristotle's ways of thinking about a good life. In stark contrast to Aristotle, Camus believed in questioning the general thinking of a good life. He believed that we as humans make mistakes and give into desires and it is almost impossible to do any different. Camus did not believe in cold, hard research but instead created his own views on matters. He did not think that there was a set way of living life but instead those who embraced the actions that they took part in were truly admirable. For example, Camus admires Sisyphus, a man who, according to Greek mythology, has been ordered to push a rock uphill for all of eternity. This seemingly mundane job is the punishment for his attempt to evade Hades who intended to bring Sisyphus to the underworld before Sisyphus tricked Hades to trap himself and ran from his death. However, Sisyphus does not view this as a punishment. He does not wallow in his fruitless attempts to push a rock uphill before it tumbles back down with no reason. Instead Sisyphus takes pride in his work and will constantly push this rock uphill without thinking twice about how pointless the activity truly is. He does not question the punishment but instead embraces it as the effect of his actions.

Overall, there are many different ways in which to live the good life. In the end it is up to an individual to deem whether or not they believe they have achieved what we call "the good life". According to Bernie Machen, former President of the University of Florida, "Write your own story. Find the strength, whatever your hardships, to tell the powerful story within you. Write the best stories you can for your families, your communities and your country. You can live the biographies everyone will read."