The good life

For other uses, see The Good Life (disambiguation).

The good life is a term for the life that one would like to live, or for happiness, associated (as eudaimonia) with the work of Aristotle and his teaching on ethics.

Religious approaches

There has been a pattern in the life of the Christian Church of monasticism or asceticism, wherein members of the body of Christ separated themselves to be consecrated to a more contemplative lifestyle, or decided to live in voluntary poverty in order to better meet the needs of the world.

Recent developments in this field have been made by what some call the new monasticism. Young men and women, both monogamous married couples and celibate singles, share their homes and lives, usually in the inner city as a means and method of growing in their faith and ministering to the marginalized and suffering people surrounding them.

Non-religious approaches

There have been many instances throughout history, especially American history, of individuals or groups of individuals attempting to return to a simpler state of existence, or, as Henry David Thoreau said, "to front the essential facts of life". Thoreau wrote his influential memoir Walden about his personal experience with simple living. A century later, Helen and Scott Nearing published a series of books on "the good life" detailing their alternative lifestyle.

See also

• Eudaimonia
• La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) - Federico Fellini's 1960 film may be seen as an antonym of 'the good life' concept
• Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
• Philosophy of happiness
• Self-fulfillment

References

• Living Faithfully in a Fragmented World by Jonathan R. Wilson
• The Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing
• Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
• School(s) for Conversion edited by Rutba House
• The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claibourne
• Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald J. Sider
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder