eudaimonia

is dependent on external goods for 'it is impossible, or at least not easy, to play a noble part unless furnished with the necessary equipment.' Among such external goods were friends, wealth, political power... and to have the very greatest measure ofeudaimonia, he supposed, we would be advantaged by 'good birth, satisfactory children, and personal beauty.

As Aristotle said, eudaimonia requires 'external goods,' for 'it is impossible, or at least not easy, to play a noble part unless furnished with the necessary equipment.' Among such external goods were friends, wealth, political power... and to have the very greatest measure ofeudaimonia, he supposed, we would be (172) advantaged by 'good birth, satisfactory children, and personal beauty.'8 We can reduce our dependence on some of these external goods by devoting ourselves to aims that do not require or that actively exclude them. The monk who is voluntarily celibate can rightly deny that his childlessness makes him unsuccessful... having children would undermine his vocation. (appiah 'ethics')

is indissolubly social because the question of what we owe to others-in the classical formulation, is inherently interpersonal.

What about that thesis that each person sets the standards for his or her own happiness' People find it plausible, I think, because they follow a train of thought that goes like this: 'What matters in your life matters because it matters to you... because it is one of your aims. Succeeding in what matters to you is what's important-important in the sense that getting it contributes to your happiness, your eudaimonia. Anything you care about matters to you. Ergo, getting what you care about contributes to your happiness.' Here is one of the many places where morality matters for ethics, and one of the many ways in which eudaimonia is shown to be indissolubly social, because the question of what we owe to others-in the classical formulation, sum clique tribuens ('giving to each his due')-is inherently interpersonal. (appiah 'ethics')

eudaimonia, n.All

eudaimonia