THE GOOD LIFE

Plato

For ____, the task of understanding the things in the world runs parallel with the job of truly getting into what will make the soul flourish. In an attempt to understand reality and the external world, man must seek to understand himself, too.

Aristotle

It was _____ who gave a definitive distinction between the theoretical and practical sciences. Among the theoretical disciplines, Aristotle included logic, biology, physics, and metaphysics, among others. Among the practical ones, Aristotle counted ethics and politics.

good

Whereas “truth” is the aim of the theoretical sciences, the “____” is the end goal of the practical ones.

truth

Whereas “____” is the aim of the theoretical sciences, the “good” is the end goal of the practical ones.

Aristotle

It is interesting to note that the first philosopher who approached the problem of reality from a “scientific” lens as we know now, is also the first thinker who dabbled into the complex problematization of the end goal of life: [which is] happiness. This man is none other than _____.

Plato

____ who thought that things in this world are not real and are only copies of the real in the world of forms

Aristotle

____ puts everything back to the ground in claiming that this world is all there is to it and that this world is the only reality we can all access.

forms , matter

For Plato, change is so perplexing that it can only make sense if there are two realities: the world of ___ and the world of ___ .

Plato

___recognized change as a process and as phenomenon that happens in the world, that in fact, it is constant.

Plato

____  also claims that despite the reality of change, things remain, and they retain their ultimate “whatness”; that you remain to be you despite the pimple that now sits atop your nose. He was convinced that reality is full of these seemingly contrasting manifestations of change and permanence.

world of matter

In the _______, things are changing and impermanent.

world of forms

In the________, the entities are only copies of the ideal and the models, and the forms are the only real entities.

Aristotle

____, for his part, disagreed with his teacher’s position and forwarded the idea that there is no reality over and above what the senses can perceive.

Aristotle

____ claims that happiness is the be all and end all of everything that we do. We may not realize it but the end goal of everything that we do is happiness.

John Stuart Mill

In the eighteenth century,_______declared the Greatest Happiness Principle by saying that an action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of people.

Greatest Happiness Principle

In the eighteenth century, John Stuart Mill declared the _____ by saying that an action is right as far as it maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of people.

John Stuart Mill

____ said that individual happiness of each individual should be prioritized and collectively dictates the kind of action that should be endorsed.

Ancient Greece

The first materialists were the atomist in ______.

Democritus and Leucippus

______ led a school whose primary belief is that the world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny indivisible units in the world called atomos or seeds.

matter

For Democritus and his disciples, the world, including human beings, is made up of ____. There is no need to posit immaterial entities as sources of purpose.

Atomos

_____ simply comes together randomly to form the things in the world.

material wealth

In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain happiness. We see this at work with most people who are clinging on to ______ as the primary source of the meaning of their existence.

hedonists

The _____, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure.

Pleasure

____ has always been the priority of hedonists. For them, life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited.

Epicurus

The mantra of this school of thought is the famous, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Led by ____, this school of thought also does not buy any notion of afterlife just like the materialists.

stoics

Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the ____ espoused the idea that to generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic.

aptheia

The original term, ____, precisely means to be indifferent.

apathy

For the stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of ___. We should, in this worldview, adopt the fact that some things are not within our control. The sooner we realize this, the happier we can become.

God

Most people find the meaning of their lives using ___ as a fulcrum of their existence.

Philippines

The _____, as a predominantly Catholic country, is witness to how people base their life goals on beliefs that hinged on some form of supernatural reality called heaven.

theists

The ultimate bases of happiness for ___ is the communion with God. The world where we are in is only just a temporary reality where we have to maneuver around while waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of God

Humanism

____ as another school of thought espouses the freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and control.

humanists

For _____, man is literally the captain of his own ship. Inspired by the enlightenment in seventeenth century, humanists see themselves not merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves and the world outside them

Social media

_____, as an example, has been so far a very effective way of employing technology in purging time and space.

internet and smart phones

The _________ made real-time communication possible not just between two people, but even with multiple people simultaneously.

Technology

_____ allowed us to tinker with our sexuality. Biologically male individuals can now undergo medical operations if they so wish for sexual reassignment. Breast implants are now available and can be done with relative convenience if anyone wishes to have one. Hormones may also be injected in order to alter the sexual chemicals in the body.

balance

Whether or not we agree with these technological advancements, these are all undertaken in the hopes of attaining the good life. The _____, however, between the good life, ethics, and technology has to be attained.