What Will Be the Good in My Life - Essay Example

Individual Research Report Introduction Ancient Greeks defined “The Good” life as the ultimate or final end where our actions are aiming. It is actually the reason why you do what you do. If this end is successful to the possible highest degree, then one is said to be successful. For me, the good in my life would be wealth. The goal The end or the goal for the sake for the sake of which I act as I do is to attain happiness or well being. It is suggested by utilitarian philosophers that a good life should be lived in accordance to the principle of pleasure. In this case, happiness is the pleasure intended as well as the absence of pain. Some of the philosophers thought it morally acceptable for pleasure to be maximised by distributing this good throughout the society. The philosophers of the ancient Greek, posed the question of what is a good is which lead to the concept o moral conceptualisation of the happiness of human. This implies that for me to have a good life, the life would live while exercising virtue and this practice of virtue will cater for both my interests and those of others. This would also be in agreement of equality and care theorists who are of the view that care for the well-being of both self and others constitute the moral life. To be happy according to O’Brien (2008), one must orient himself towards the three happiness dimensions including pleasure, positive emotions and engagement. More research has also ranked pleasure seeking as the pathway that is least significant in leading a satisfied and happy life. Good condition is thought when thinks of happiness and this happiness can be termed as finding solutions to problems of having aims that are conflicting. The quality of life of an individual can be assessed against the perceptions of satisfaction by individual, social evidence and objectives. The conceptualization of well being tends to draw a distinction between those qualities that act as preconditions for good life and those qualities which are outcomes of a quality life that is good. Sociological environmental and psychological qualities are distinguished and suggested that individuals vary in their psychological capacities to exploit internal and environmental conditions conducive to the well being. To attain well-being through wealth certain factors need to be Present. Resources are required; availability of income as well as that of work so as to get the much needed personal and social gain. It is evident that wealth can lead to satisfaction as seen in the research done among thirty-three societies in Europe where the linkages between subjective well-being and socioeconomic conditions were identified. Populations from the rich parts of Europe were found to have a life satisfaction that is equally high in contrast to those from poorer societies who had life satisfaction that was unequally low. Wealth leads to the access of economic capital that leads to access of the goods and services considered necessary for life. Wealth will ensure inclusions and avoid economic exclusions which marginalize social groups and deny them the access to those goods necessary for flourishing and functioning. Wealth therefore have a tendency of reducing relative poverty. There is also a relationship between the income and health status of an individual. Politics of health which is under the politics of social relations relates to how the quality and wellness of life are impacted by the psychological needs of the human beings to social structure where people live. The poor’s health appears to be more sensitive to the changes occurring in income unlike the health of the rich. Societies that are unequal economically tend to be violent and male dominated lowering the women’s health status. The Wrong in the Good Life However, I feel that my choice has got some problems. As Tolstoy (1984) says, sometimes for one to get wealth one tends to hide the good and end up displaying evil. Tolstoy (1984) himself severally hide under guise of indifference only focused on what that goal that would have given him the good in life. This way he achieved the goal of fame and wealth. This concept a negative view of those people who are successful especially writers whereby he assumed that were immoral. He went ahead to think ill of the priests in the end he came to believe that faith was fraud. He termed the writing career as a lunatic asylum, whereby they developed pride in teaching without actually knowing what they were teaching only to realize later that they knew nothing. Another problem associated to the attainment of wealth in life is that one has to die. It therefore means that the good in life regardless of the happiness or the wellbeing it carries, it cannot stop one from dying and leaving all the wealth on this earth. As Tolstoy (1984) puts it, he came to realize that the achievement of the good live was a superstitious belief was an insufficient as a guide to life. He first experienced execution process of a human body and to make things worse, his brother who was a good, wise and serious man died painfully after suffering for a long period of time. The process of achieving wealth is tedious. One has to work hard and have little time for oneself and for the family. One may easily get worn out and loose interest in the whole thing as seen from Tolstoy (1984) who decide to go home and look for family happiness by marrying so as to recover from mental illness. Through wealth there is a high chance of affluenza as described by de Graaf et al (2005). They describe affluenza as a disease that is associated with materialism or all consuming consumption. Affluenza is used to indicate a very high degree of negligent waste, materialism, and excessive consumption. Affluenza affects the perpetrator of the said behavior, others and also the environment and therefore presented as an antisocial behavior. However, to get out of the position taken after goals like wealth have been achieved the following ways have to be put into consideration: Ignorance- This includes the aspect of not understanding and not knowing that life is an absurdity and an evil. People tend to ignore the question of life as regards to wealth. Epicureanism- This consist of making use of the advantages one has given the hopelessness in life. It consists of eating and drinking joyously and enjoying the family life as one will die and live all the possessions he has worked for. Strength and energy- Tolstoy (1984) suggests another way out as destroying one’s life after understanding that it is an absurdity and an evil. This is done by exceptionally people who are consistent and strong. He claims that this is the worthiest escape way where one decides that it is better to be dead than being alive. Weakness- This consists clinging on to life despite seeing the whole truth of the situation knowing that nothing will come out of it. These people act strongly not to kill themselves though they well understand that being dead is better than being alive. Tolstoy (1984) concluded that life for him is created by reason. He says that it is the reason that denies life and hence by all means it should be the creator of life. According to De Botton (2001), the case of Epicurus teaches us that the best things in life are actually free. Poverty is taken to be the great wealth when the natural purpose of life is used as the measuring tool. Poverty is seen as great and limitless wealth and great poverty. From Nietzsche, he says that misfortune is much better than the good fortune in the paradoxical assertion in the consolation of philosophy. He argues that by responding to difficulties that are likely to tear us wisely the fulfillment is reached. He also warns against religion of comfortableness through Stendhal by stating that unhappiness and happiness are twin sisters who grow together. By Nietzsche climbing the mountains we recognize the greatest metaphor that what makes people feel good is not actually good and at the same time what makes people feel bad is not actually bad (De Botton, 2001). Conclusion In conclusion, the good in my life which is wealth seem to have more criticism than benefits. However, if the goal is sought morally and one tries to enjoy the life when the goal is achieved, the good in life can actually be good. It is also important to have the concept that any action should taken should have a reason and evil deeds should be avoided in the attainment of wealth. References De Botton, A. (2001). The consolations of philosophy. New York, NY: Vintage International. ISBN: 0-679-77917-5 De Graaf, J., Wann, D., & Naylor, T.H. (2005). Affluenza: The all-consuming epidemic. (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. ISBN-10: 1576753573 Tolstoy, L. (1984). A confession. W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. ISBN: 0-39330192-3 (Paperback) O’Brien M (). Well being and post primary schooling: NCCA Research Report No. 6. ISSN 1649-3362. Retrieved on 31st March 2013 from: www.ncca.ie Veenhoven, R. (2000) The Four Qualities of Life. Ordering Concepts and Measures of the good Life. Journal of Happiness Studies. 1, 1 – 39. Read More