Question

The term "Good Life" is coined in chapter 3....what is the "Good life" and what role does the idea of skepticism, stoicism and cynicism play? Be sure to define and briefly discuss each term.

Answer 1

A good life is something which is not only lived well but also approved by the society as good. Thus, a person who lived a good life would include characteristics such as, courage, honest, selfless, helpful, and followed certain principles and stuck to them no matter what the consequences were. The person who lived a good life would leave this earth with gratitude and without any guilty consciousness. Although different people define good life differently depending on the culture, religion, philosophy and social goals. However, someone who is skeptic would be always doubtful of certain beliefs and life choices thus, would doubt whether a good life is possible at all given the fragile nature and challenges of human life. Stoicism on the other hand suggests that in order to live a good life one needs to accept pain as part of the process just like happiness. Cynicism on the other hand, doubt that those who act to lead a good life are in fact doing so out of selfish motives and it’s almost close to scepticism which doubts people and things.

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