Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing
What ideas have we accepted about goodness, happiness, and human flourishing?
I recently had several conversations with friends that have me contemplating these important ideas. I think that answering these questions will determine how we create our lives. One friend brought up a simple idea, that we can choose to consistently pursue a few things that we value and thus make a happy life. So I thought, right now my 3 things would include community building, creative expression, and wellness/health. These things give me purpose and joy and they help me create a life of flourishing. But the narrative of my life and what I seek to pursue flourishing feels more complex than this.
A few days later I spoke with a friend of mine who studies philosophy. She brought up what she had been learning about ethics through the Aristotelian lens. Specifically a concept called eudaimonia. It struck me as an important continuation of my last conversation. Eudaimonia helps us arrive at the answer to a core question- how shall we live? When my friend mentioned that it can also be translated as human flourishing, it was a lightbulb moment for me.
Aristotle reasons that we reach eudaimonia through virtuous acts, or in other words being a good person. As we discussed this theory, I began to wonder for myself, what is a good person? Society gives signposts for what makes a person good- take for example religion, family, or politics. This conversation was a pause in the narrative that society tells me about good people. To my delight, my friend challenged me to reflect on this further. Coming from a faith background she engaged this question in prayer and suggested I ponder the question too.
Oftentimes, I feel a mysterious expectation to solve huge problems for humanity's sake. This expectation is quasi- supported by a narrative I have that a good person does something beyond themselves. It seems like all I hear about is the devastation we have wrecked on each other and the world. Sometimes I think, if I make good money I'll have the mobility to create change. Maybe if I start a non-profit and give away as much as I can my life will be well lived. I have to stop now and wonder, does a good person get an ego boost from living in service of something greater than themselves? That might be unfair, but I wonder if that response is a part of such an ideal. It feels good to help others. It feels good to be a part of something that is beyond yourself and the cycle continues. Perhaps wrestling with ego and virtue are inherent in this pursuit of meaning, and goodness, and human flourishing. I've seen people who are deemed 'good' but aren't really happy. I've seen people who are happy but not deemed a particularly good person. What's left is human flourishing. Personally, the ideas I have about goodness and happiness are kind of shallow. A good person takes the trash out, a good person doesn't cheat on their math test. A happy person probably has money, a happy person knows contentment. I think what's more helpful is asking oneself what is good, true, and beautiful. Then asking the world what it thinks of your ideas, and living accordingly.
If I had to lock down some ideas about human flourishing, I think a flourishing human looks out for others. A flourishing human lives in harmony with the earth and does hard things in pursuit of a better tomorrow. A good and happy and flourishing person is imperfect and yet feels secure in who they are becoming.