Good Life Research Paper

As my knowledge in the PULSE classroom has been increasing, so has the understanding of the idea behind the good life. In this essay, I will be redefining what the good life means to me. Although an immense amount of what I wrote about in regards to the good life in my last paper is still pertinent to the idea of what I believe the good life is, there are ideas such as mindfulness and the hermeneutics of charity that have expanded on this idea. In this essay, I will be comparing what I defined as the good life last semester, with what I view the good life as now. I will also talk about how the work of Steve Pope introduced me to the idea of models and exemplified the idea that no one is perfect, even in terms of service. On top of this, I will

Although I generally still believe that these components make up the good life, I believe that there is so much more that defines it. Last semester, I focused on the good life through the lens of Aristotle and Plato and stuck to their definition. Personally, it was easier for me to believe and act upon a fixed definition of the good life, in order to be able to partake the journey of obtaining the good life. Everything in the first semester was concrete, and this made understanding the good life easier. Entering the second semester, a lot more application occurred in the classroom, and we were no longer focused on the definition of the good life. Instead, we focused on how we could obtain the good life through our service, and how the good life related to our current societal status. We had more discussions about race, poverty, and how the good life is perceived by these individuals, but also how our service for these disenfranchised communities aided our journey of obtaining the good life. Although Plato’s idea that knowledge of the truth could undoubtedly lead one to learn what was considered good, and Aristotle’s belief that happiness was the key to the good life are ideologies that are embedded in my thinking of the good life, it has come to mean much more. The good life is not as technical as these definitions make it seem, and as I have learned, is a

Although there are set characteristics that encompass the idea of the good life, each individual determines what is the just and the good in their life. We have a plethora of societal standards that define what is right and wrong in our society, and these should generally be followed in order to live the good life. Despite this, the good life requires some higher order thinking and involvement with morality. Essentially, one has to determine what God would do in a certain situation. This idea, of being like God, is one that truly defines what it means to live the good life. We focused a lot on the idea that we were created in God’s image, therefore we had to act like God. This was a new idea to me because although I knew we were created in God’s image, the phenomenon was marked by a more passive role. It is always said by people that we are perfect because we have been created in God’s image, but this is not the truth. God created us with free will to be able to make mistakes, and it is this free will that creates the journey of the good life. Although the good life is said to be the most pleasurable life, not all individuals know how to obtain it, or even attempt to. This is mainly due to the fact that they do not spend an immense amount of time reflecting on the manner in which they live their lives, and do not consider the fact that they must live in