Introduction to the Good Life

PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3

How Lives Can be Good• Aesthetically• As an example

(for a museum)• Morally• Causally• Prudentially

The (Prudentially) Good Life• The prudential good life = life is

going well for the person living it• What is the best life (generally

speaking)?

Intrinsic vs. Instrumental Value

• Intrinsic value = ultimately good for you

• Instrumental value = good for you because it leads to intrinsic value

• The test

Is that a good theory of the good life?

• State what is intrinsically good for us• Justify why those things (and not

other things) are intrinsically good for us

• Test on examples

The Beer Theory• The good life

= drinking lots of beer

Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)

• Quantitative Hedonism• Happiness (a

preponderance of pleasure over pain) is the only ultimate good

• “the game of push-pin is of equal value with… music and poetry”

John Stuart Mill (1806– 1873)

• Qualitative Hedonism• Happiness (a preponderance of

pleasure over pain) is the only ultimate good

• Higher vs. lower pleasures• “better to be a human

being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied”

• The test (try both)

Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900)

• Sidgwick’s Hedonism• Happiness (desirable

consciousness) is the only ultimate good

• Are consciousness of virtue, truth, freedom, and beauty good for us?

• Test (X without pleasure?)

Why We Find it Hard to Accept that Happiness is the

Greatest Good1. Pleasure doesn’t cover all the goods2. Paradox of happiness

– E.g. being nice to others3. Hedonism implies egoism4. Is pursuit of virtue, truth, freedom,

and beauty rational?

G. E. Moore (1873–1958)

• Objective list• Experiences of ‘organic

wholes’ are the ultimate goods– E.g. beauty, friendship, pleasure,

not pain• “the admiring contemplation

of [beauty] is good in itself” (Principia Ethica pp. 249–50)

M. K. Gandhi (1869–1948)

• Truth and Ahimsa• Ahimsa = non-violence to

all sentient creatures• Ideal existence is full

understanding of truth and being ruled by reason, not passions

• You’d never put a fellow creature before yourself

Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)

• The right to unhappiness• “the right to grow old and ugly

and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow… the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.”

John Finnis (1940)

• Objective list– Life (health & not pain), – knowledge, – play, – aesthetic experience, – friendship, – practical reasonableness, – Religion*

• Test: “X is a good, in itself, don’t you think?”

John Finnis Again• All 7 are equally fundamental

– Each needs no justification for its value– None can be reduced to another– None seems less important than another

• Pleasure is not the point of it all– Without pleasure each still has value

Derek Parfit (1942)

• 3 main categories of theory• Hedonistic

– happiness• Desire-Fulfilment

– Getting what you want• Objective List

– Getting X, Y, Z (sometimes regardless of whether you want them or how they make you feel)

Parfit on Hedonism• Narrow Hedonism

– There is something distinctive and unifying about pleasure

– But pleasures are diverse• Preference Hedonism

– The more pleasurable of two experiences is the one that is preferred

– Your life goes well if you experience getting the things you want

Parfit on Desire-Fulfilment

• Unrestricted Desire-Fulfilment– The best life is the one that has all of its

desires satisfied– But what about the patient

who recovers without you ever knowing about it?

• Success Theory– Only the satisfaction of your desires

about yourself count– Different to Preference Hedonism

What if your kids die?• You are estranged from your kids and

they go “off the rails” and die• Hedonism

– Doesn’t matter as long as you never find out

• Unrestricted Desire-Fulfilment– Matters if you didn’t want that

• Success Theory– Matters if you wanted to be a successful

parent

What if you die?• Can your wellbeing be affected by

events after your death?• Hedonism

– No• Unrestricted Desire-Fulfilment

– Yes• Success Theory

– Disagreement (but P thinks Yes)– What’s the difference between death

and permanent alienation?

Preferring Alternatives• King Lear vs. party• I’ll prefer whatever I end up choosing

(no regrets) • Still, it’s true that I would have

preferred one over the other• The theory, therefore, better allow for

claims about alternate choices being better

• E.g. Informed Success Theory

Parfit on Objective List Theories

• OLT are different to D-FT & PHT because of how they say value is created

• OLT: We prefer X(good) because its valuable

• D-FT & PHT: X is valuable because we prefer it

• Rawls’ grass-counter e.g.• Sadist e.g.

Objection to D-FT & PHT • Someone could prefer what is

not best for them even if they know all of the facts

Combination• Perhaps the best theory matches

the strengths of D-FT & PHT with that of OLT

• A life is good for the one living it to the extent that they are willingly engaged in:– Having knowledge– Being rational– Experiencing true beauty– Experiencing mutual love

Objections?• The combination account still

has the problem of what deserves to be on the list – (what should people like and

why should they like it?)• If I really enjoyed counting

blades of grass, I would be annoyed that it’s not on the list

Exemplary Examples• Come up with new examples to

endorse your theory and argue against the other theories

• Hedonism– Happiness/pleasure

• Desire-Fulfilment– Getting what you want

• Objective List– X, Y, & Z are the ultimate goods

Read for Next Time• Taylor, Richard (2008). Virtue Ethics, in

Happiness: Classic and Contemporary readings in Philosophy, Steven M Cahn & Christine Vitrano (eds.), pp. 222-235, Oxford University Press.

• Nozick, Robert (1994). The Experience Machine, in Ethics, Peter Singer (ed.), pp. 228-229, Oxford University Press.

• Weijers, Dan (2011). The Experience Machine Objection to Hedonism, in Just the Arguments, Edited by Michael Bruce & Steven Barbone, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 229-231.

More on the Good Life

PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 4

Richard Taylor (1919–2003)

• Happiness should be the main concern of all ethics

• Happiness consists in achieving fulfilment via the exercise of creative intelligence

The Nature of Happiness• Important• Rare• Good• Misunderstood• Eudaimonia = happiness = lucky =

flourishing = well-being?????• Call no man happy until he is dead

Happiness and Pleasure• Are not the same thing• Pleasures are fleeting and specific• Happiness is very long-

term and holistic• Can I have an unhappy lower back?

– (because I can have a painful one)• Hurting people gives the sadist

pleasure, but not happiness

The “Happiness” of Lesser Beings

• Non-human animals, children, and “morons” can be happy…

• But that’s not the right kind of happiness

• The right kind of happiness is:– “the fulfillment of a person, as a person”

(p. 227)• Would you rather be a happy moron?

Pleasure as an Ingredient of Happiness

• Pleasure is an external• Externals are goods that are all or

mainly outside of our control• They are required for the good

life/happiness, but not sufficient• E.g. some people get cancer• Other externals = $$, honour, youth,

beauty

Happiness and Possessions• The world is full of materialistic

people• Some possessions are essential for

life and other for happiness• But, pursuit of wealth after a point is

an obstacle to happiness

• It’s like eating food

Honour, Fame, and Glory• All externals• Often misplaced

– Winning generals are honoured– Very rich honoured for ~returning stolen

property• The excellent personal quality or

achievement are the reward– Heroism– Creating an extraordinary philosophical

treatise

What Happiness Is• A fulfilled state of being that is of

ultimate value for a person• It’s a state (like health is)• Requires life-long effort• Happiness consists in the proper

functioning of a person as a whole• Happiness = flourishing?

What is Creativity?• Flourishing for humans is high

functioning in all areas• Most important is our use of

reason/intellect• Observe, think, reflect, and

especially create• Creativity = using reason to make

new things– New dance/sports/chess move– Exercise skill in farming/parenting

The Defeat of Happiness• Disaster (externals) can ruin your

chances for happiness– Stoics disagreed

• Ignorance of what happiness really is– E.g. materialistic people

• Lack of creative intelligence– Most people are sheep who only absorb

the creative work of others

Nozick’s Experience Machine

De Brigard’s Experience Machine

Deceived Businessman

The Happy Slave

What if I Don’t Agree?• Is it possible that most people are

wrong?• Psychology• Experimental philosophy

Exemplary Examples• Come up with new examples to

endorse your theory and argue against the other theories

• Hedonism– Happiness/pleasure

• Desire-Fulfilment– Getting what you want

• Objective List– X, Y, & Z are the ultimate goods

For Next Time• The meaning of life• Read:

– Nagel, Thomas (1971). The Absurd, The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 68, No. 20, pp. 716-727.

– Tolstoy, Leo (2000). My Confession, in E.D. Klemke (ed.), The Meaning of Life, 2nd edition, pp. 11-20. New York: Oxford University Press.