A good life can be defined with continuous happiness, various accomplishments, and everlasting prosperity. The eternal desire for a good life has influenced philosophers and their reasoning throughout the years. Many have followed ancient religions; while others followed the modern belief of listening to your heart and therefore one’s self. Pascal, Luther, and Augustine are some of the philosophers who followed religion, and believed it to be the ultimate way of achieving a good life. Other preachers like Rousseau and Nietzsche believed in following one’s heart and conscious in order to achieve the desired goal. Rousseau presented the idea that humans are born good and society is what actually shapes humans into good or bad people. Furthermore, he expands on the subject of one’s self and the inward view rather than the outward view. With this, a modern and innovative perspective on the good life was developed as reason cannot only be used on an everyday basis, but can also present a more attainable way of achieving a good for all members of society.
Pascal dedicated his life and knowledge to the study of the human perspective and the significance of God in our lives. As a fervent believer and follower of God’s word, Pascal stated the necessity of religion as the moving power of humans. To this philosopher, God does not only signify endless love and care, but also the ultimate good in all. Nevertheless, Pascal implies the power of humans to be insignificant compared to the almighty God. With this, he mentions that a being without God is worthless, useless, but more importantly empty . Pascal’s book of Pensees has a goal to represent the idea that human existence involves a fundamental paradox, “as we are basically animals, but al...
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...fectly applied to this theme; however, it is imperative to understand the impact that we have as we have freedom in our decisions. Our decisions are known to not only impact us as individuals, but to impact society as everyday becomes a new chance to cherish and appreciate what we have.
Works Cited
Aristotle and Irwin, Terrence, Nicomachean Ethics Second Edition (Indiana: Indianapolis 1999)
Blaise Pascal, Pensees, ed. Charles Guignon (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1999)
Jacques Rousseau, Emile, ed. Charles Guignon (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company 1999)
Merriam-Webster.com, s.v. “Self-Deception”
http://www.merriam-webster.com/ (accessed Dec 03; 2011)
Rick Brainard, “18th Century History: Romantiscism the alternative to enlightenment” 04 Dec.2011, http://www.history1700s.com/articles/article1064.shtml
“Religion Gives Meaning to Life” outlines how life is given meaning through theistic religion in Louis Pojman’s opinion. In this short reading, autonomy is described as in the meaning of freedom or self-governing and argues how it is necessary for ideal existence. By being honest and faithful with ourselves shows how we can increase our autonomy. “I think most of us would be willing to give up a few autonotoms for an enormous increase in happiness” (553) shows our willingness to practice good purpose.
Thesis: Pascal’s Wager calls for the need for people to choose to believe in something, to allow them the chance of gaining more than ever, and with that your chances for gain will be higher with the belief of a god, but the highest with the belief in the God of the Bible.
Pascal’s Wager is an argument that tries to convince non-theists why they should believe in the existence of the Christian god. Pascal thinks non-theists should believe in God’s existence because if a non-theist is wrong about the existence of God, they have much more to lose than if a theist is wrong about the existence of God. Pascal begins his argument by stating that everyone must make a wager. This wager everyone places is on whether or not God exists. Pascal believes everyone must make a wager based on two reasons, everyone eventually dies and God is a possible being.
You are all probably thinking, how can we attain happiness for ourselves and the state? The answer lies in virtue. In particular, "human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue," (Aristotle, Ethics Book I). While some may think wealth is the final end, i...
Defining the “good life” is a question that has been sought after for centuries; from among the first recorded pieces of writing, the Epic of Gilgamesh, on to the voice of Socrates in his final days, to a Shakespearean depiction of characters meeting their demise in King Lear and finally to the modern era. We can look back and see that this question has been answered and that those answers are all divergent as they develop from one’s own personal views.
In his journal, Pensees, Pascal argues that religion is necessary for human existence because it influences human’s natural behaviors and motivations. He articulates that without Jesus, we would never really know ourselves (Pascal 7). He writes that “…man without God is totally ignorant and inevitably wretched” (22). In other words, we would never know what is good and evil without having God, because without God, we are unaware and ultimately evil. Pascal writes that we can only learn from God; therefore, we can never truly understand who we are unless we believe in God. Because Pascal says that man is wretched without God, he argues that, “Man’s greatness lies in knowing himself to be wretched” (32). In knowing we are born with both original sin and free will from God, we understand that we make mistakes and that we are not perfect, which shows that humans inevitably are great. Pascal writes for people to have faith and to “recognize that there is an infinity of things beyond” (55). There are so many things out there for us as humans and we need to realize that the world God created has so much to offer us, so we need faith to help us understand this. Ultimately, Pascal says, “the past and the present are our means…hope to live…we are always planning to be ...
Since the arrival humans, we have made a large impact on the world. We have shaped our society to what it is today with thoughts and actions. Our actions can be “good” or”bad”, but with every action there will be a reaction. Every person will have an impact on someone or something, and I think no matter how big or small that action is , it will have a meaningful effect one way or another.
The necessity of religion is a topic that has been widely debated by many people for many years. The vast majority of the 7 and a half billion people on this earth practice some sort of religion but for what purpose? Whether it’s too give people hope for an afterlife or too fuel their need for contact with others people can list hundreds of different reasons why they rely on religion but is religion actually essential to our wellbeing and and life quality on this planet?
In conclusion, humankind is blessed with life as God created it. One must reflect on their actions throughout life because one will be judged by God in the next life, one must see the importance of gasping liberation, and one must have a loving and open heart when helping the poor. Life should be lived to its fullest because once time is lost, it cannot be regained; life needs to be appreciated.
In his book of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle writes “Happiness then, is found to be something perfect and self sufficient, being the end to which our actions are directed”. Based on that statement, as a result, one might perceive that all human actions are directed towards one goal of ‘supreme Good’ and ultimate happiness. While most agree that the ‘supreme Good’ is what one achieves by happiness, the definition and constitution of this happiness remains a debate. At the same time, the study of this ‘supreme Good’ can clearly be seen as a political science, as the role of politics is the creation and protection of the highest possible means of human life. Then, it becomes evident that whatever one
Modern debates over religion, more specifically God, focus primarily on whether or not sufficient evidence exists to either prove or disprove the existence of a God. Disbelievers such as biologist Richard Hawkins tend to point to the indisputable facts of evolution and the abundance of scientific evidence which seem to contradict many aspects of religion. Conversely, believers such as Dr. A. E. Wilder-Smith describe the controversial aspects of science, and how the only possible solution to everything is a supreme being. However, mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal refused to make either type of argument; he believed that it was impossible to determine God’s existence for certainty through reason. Instead, he suggested that rational individuals should wager as though God does indeed exist, because doing so offers these individuals everything to gain, and nothing to lose. Unfortunately, Pascal’s Wager contains numerous fallacies, and in-depth analysis of each one of his arguments proves that Pascal’s Wager is incorrect.
Since the beginning of time humans have searched for the good life. Over the centuries people have found multitudes of ways to interpret this ideal. For some it means to gain power and riches. For others it means to find themselves, or to be one with nature. Instead of trying to find something that may not be out there or yearn for something that another has, why can people not be content with what they have bestowed upon themselves? Living the good life does not have ties to materialistic things. It is not chasing after something that others may have. Living the good life is being satisfied with the simple necessities in life. These necessities are being loved, gaining knowledge, and people having contentment with the fruit of their labor.
The question of what it means to live a good life revolves around human nature all the time. Philosophers try to justify what a person needs to do to live the best life. Some philosophers argue happiness makes a life whole, and there are certain actions one takes to earn a good life. The next question these philosophers try to answer is whether a good life is comprised by living life in the pursuit of happiness and living justly. Plato, St Thomas, Marx, and Kant are among the philosophers that explored this question.
As one ponders on how to live a good life, many ideas come to mind. Whether this may be wealth, family, or beauty, the early philosopher’s theories need to be taken into consideration. Those early philosophers include Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and The Epicureans. These four committed their lives towards bettering life, and are the basis of most philosophical theories. It is evident that these four need to be read, understood, and discussed to better understand one’s life. They always pondered on the thought of how to have a perfect life and society. When one makes their own theory, based upon these early philosophers, not only do they need to establish a strong belief system, it is required to practice this too. Plato had the most basic of theories, being that only virtue was needed in life to be happy and nothing else. For Aristotle, he used Plato’s foundation and added that external goods, such as wealth, respect, friends, and beauty were all necessary. Without one of these, Aristotle believes that one cannot live a happy life. For the Stoics, they settled on a balanced approached between virtue and external goods, saying that virtue is necessary, yet external goods are preferred too. The Epicureans largely argue the Stoics view, and present that pleasure (tranquility) is the goal of every life, but virtues and friends are required for this. Each theory has many critics, even with Aristotle being a critic of his own theory. None seems perfect, yet all fit today’s modern society. I found that I agree with the Stoics theory the most, and find that any external good is fine as long as virtue is the basis of that person’s life.
When looking at Pascal’s arguments that emerge in Pensees; the history, ideas, and people that influenced Pascal must be examined. Many of Pascal’s arguments involve the unity of both religion and science. This can be very controversial at a time where an absolute monarch challenges and tries to destroy other faith practices. Along with introducing scientific ideas others may misinterpret as trying to disprove God’s existence. Pascal was heavily influenced by the Christian church and was a firm believer in God. In fact, Pascal’s discoveries and experiments only solidify his faith even more. Pensees is Pascal’s thoughts on God and some other subjects that tie philosophy and the nature of man.