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The Good Life

Angel

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THE GOOD LIFE

This thread was inspired by an exchange in another thread.

Two old members reuniting asked after each other and one declared that he was living "a good life."

I posed the question "What is 'the good life'?"

Note the shift in the article from indefinite (a good life) to definite (the good life).

Two other members replied to my question, in effect taking it to be asking about "a good life" rather than "the good life," and both were of the opinion that the former was entirely up to the individual to say.

But Ted Bundy's idea of a good life was undoubtedly of the sort we would all consider a bad life. I could multiply counterexamples like this indefinitely.

So there's something problematic about taking the question to refer to "a good life" as individually determined.

So I reiterate my original question here and ask DP members about "the good life."

Bertrand Russell famously wrote that "the good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

What do you think "the good life" for human being consists in? What sort of life is "good" for all human beings to live?

If you can say why, so much the better!


...​
 
I like what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 5...

18 This is what I have seen to be good and proper: that one should eat and drink and find enjoyment for all the hard work at which he toils under the sun during the few days of life that the true God has given him, for that is his reward.

19 Also, when the true God gives a man riches and material possessions along with the ability to enjoy them, he should take his reward and rejoice in his hard work. This is the gift of God"

The best...the real life is yet to come...

"Tell them to work at good, to be rich in fine works, to be generous, ready to share, safely treasuring up for themselves a fine foundation for the future, so that they may get a firm hold on the real life." 1 Timothy 6:18,19
 
The Good Life is a life rich in meaning and awareness. Extrovert biased Americas would assume that meaning means that we are accomplishing missions of value but it is so much more than that, it is at its core caring.....it is being all in in life....which is a choice made.
 
Food, sex & sleep anything else is gravy.
 
Fulfillment.



Purpose is what grants a good life.
 
Says who ?

Man was not created, therefore he has no purpose.


None.

We have the purposes we accept or choose....our jobs and missions and causes.

Choose well, the quality of your life is highly dependent upon the quality of your choices of purpose.
 
Bertrand Russell famously wrote that "the good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

I would change that last part to, "...and guided by the knowledge and direction of God."

Without God / Christ in one's life, there will always be an emptiness to it and it will never be as good as it would be with them.
 
I would change that last part to, "...and guided by the knowledge and direction of God."

Without God / Christ in one's life, there will always be an emptiness to it and it will never be as good as it would be with them.

OH GOD NO.....Christians do not own The Good Life.......This non Christian is offended at the hilarity of the claim.
 
We have the purposes we accept or choose....our jobs and missions and causes.


I would dispute that

Man can set himself a goal or goals in his life...but he/she can change his/her mind

If a carpenter makes a table, that table has a purpose...to support objects that would otherwise sit on the ground.
The table can't decide change its purpose.
 
OH GOD NO.....Christians do not own The Good Life.......This non Christian is offended at the hilarity of the claim.

How would you know anything about it, not having Christ and the awesome Holy Spirit in your life?
 
Education.

Education and intelligence are lame unless accompanied by Godly Wisdom. Slick Willie Clinton's impeachment is just once such example.

There's a whole new world out there for you with the Holy Ghost.
 
I would dispute that

Man can set himself a goal or goals in his life...but he/she can change his/her mind

If a carpenter makes a table, that table has a purpose...to support objects that would otherwise sit on the ground.
The table can't decide change its purpose.
Lots to unpack here. Thanks for the post.

Tables do not have purposes. The carpenter had a purpose in making the table, and that purpose was related to the end of his carpentry practice (to make good tables, say).
The table has an end, however, and this end will be attained by way of the carpentry of the carpenter, whose purpose in making the table is to make a good table, a table that fulfills the end of a table.
 
Why’d you drop of the deep end and use Ted Bundy as an example? If you wish to go that route, afix JWB there, and he was living the good life, meaning he sacrificed all for his deed, making him a true patriot.
 
THE GOOD LIFE

This thread was inspired by an exchange in another thread.

Two old members reuniting asked after each other and one declared that he was living "a good life."

I posed the question "What is 'the good life'?"

Note the shift in the article from indefinite (a good life) to definite (the good life).

Two other members replied to my question, in effect taking it to be asking about "a good life" rather than "the good life," and both were of the opinion that the former was entirely up to the individual to say.

But Ted Bundy's idea of a good life was undoubtedly of the sort we would all consider a bad life. I could multiply counterexamples like this indefinitely.

So there's something problematic about taking the question to refer to "a good life" as individually determined.

So I reiterate my original question here and ask DP members about "the good life."

Bertrand Russell famously wrote that "the good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

What do you think "the good life" for human being consists in? What sort of life is "good" for all human beings to live?

If you can say why, so much the better!


...​

The good life to me, is one dominated by God's blessing of inner peace.
 
Says who ?

Man was not created, therefore he has no purpose.


None.

That's why its up to individuals to find purpose. Without it, life has no meaning and reason for being.
 
I would dispute that

Man can set himself a goal or goals in his life...but he/she can change his/her mind

If a carpenter makes a table, that table has a purpose...to support objects that would otherwise sit on the ground.
The table can't decide change its purpose.

Hince the complication and conundrum of free will.
 
The good life to me, is one dominated by God's blessing of inner peace.

Inner peace is not achieved through religion, it is achieving through acceptance.
 
How would you know anything about it, not having Christ and the awesome Holy Spirit in your life?

I don't think being a non-believer means one cannot live a "Good Life". Yet who defines what a good life is. personally I believe the individual does and that directs them on a certain journey in life, along with a lot of other factors.
 
Why’d you drop of the deep end and use Ted Bundy as an example? If you wish to go that route, afix JWB there, and he was living the good life, meaning he sacrificed all for his deed, making him a true patriot.
An extreme counterexample is a good counterexample. Who is "JWB"?
 
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