Key to Socrates’ definition of the good life was that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Ap 38a cited in West, 1979, p. His student Plato reported his speeches in published dialogues that demonstrate the Socratic method. Interestingly enough, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates never wrote anything down. This tricky question has preoccupied philosophers since the ancient Greeks, given it deals with the how and why of values and ethics, and how to live well. However, the question ‘what is the good life?’ has been asked in many fields throughout history, beginning with philosophy. Together, a sense of fulfillment in these and other life domains will lead most people to flourish and feel that life is worth living (Vanderweele, 2017).

Loving relationships (with partners, family, and friends).Engagement in meaningful activities/work,.

The word ‘good’ has a very different meaning for very many people however, there are some aspects of ‘the good life’ that most people can probably agree on such as: These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees. Then we’ll introduce a few psychological theories of the good life and methods for assessing the quality of life, before discussing how you can apply these theories to live a more fulfilling life.īefore you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free. We will begin this article by exploring definitions of the good life, before presenting a brief history of philosophical theories of the good life. Positive psychology began as an inquiry into the good life to establish a science of human flourishing and improve our understanding of what makes life worth living (Lopez & Snyder, 2011). Yet with more than 8 billion people on this planet, there are probably just as many opinions about what the good life entails.

There has been a great deal written and said about how to live The Good Life.

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