Eudaimonia as Fundamentally Good

Mark LeBar

doi:10.1163/18756735-000099

Eudaimonia as Fundamentally Good

Grazer Philosophische Studien ◽

10.1163/18756735-000099 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 97 (3) ◽

pp. 386-400

Author(s):

Mark LeBar

Keyword(s):

Ethical Theories ◽

Good For ◽

Virtuous Activity

Abstract In the ethical theories of the ancient Greeks, eudaimonia provided a grounding for the value of all other goods. But a puzzle for such views is that some things are good for us irrespective of the intervention of eudaimonia and its requirement of virtuous activity. In this article, the author considers challenges to the eudaimonist account of value on those grounds pressed by Nicholas Wolterstorff and Sophie Grace Chappell. The aim is ethical-theoretical, rather than historical. The author defends the thesis that a form of eudaimonism that is largely Aristotelian in form and content can meet these challenges.

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Eudaimonism

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199385195.013.27 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Mark LeBar

Keyword(s):

Crucial Role ◽

Good Life ◽

Ethical Theories ◽

Living Well ◽

Moral Perfection ◽

Essential Questions ◽

Good For

The concept of eudaimonia plays a crucial role in understanding virtue on some quite influential virtue ethical theories. It can be understood as happiness, as a property of lives. It is on many influential accounts the focus of virtue and the standard for excellence in living and acting. This chapter grapples with some essential questions in fleshing out this relation: What, beyond merely not dying, does living consist in? What counts as living well? How does eudaimonia give point or focus to virtue? Who is living a good life good for? Can eudaimonism get us beyond an unacceptable egoism? Among the major concerns addressed is that eudaimonia really points more to moral perfection than to happiness. The chapter concludes by taking up a number of objections to allowing the role for eudaimonia that it has traditionally played in virtue ethical theories.

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Seti Figure of Merit

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100015293 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 161 ◽

pp. 711-717 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John W. Dreher ◽

D. Kent Cullers

Keyword(s):

Figure Of Merit ◽

Qualitative Difference ◽

Current Generation ◽

Detection Range ◽

Sky Surveys ◽

Independent Observations ◽

Good For

AbstractWe develop a figure of merit for SETI observations which is anexplicitfunction of the EIRP of the transmitters, which allows us to treat sky surveys and targeted searches on the same footing. For each EIRP, we calculate the product of terms measuring the number of stars within detection range, the range of frequencies searched, and the number of independent observations for each star. For a given set of SETI observations, the result is a graph of merit versus transmitter EIRP. We apply this technique to several completed and ongoing SETI programs. The results provide a quantitative confirmation of the expected qualitative difference between sky surveys and targeted searches: the Project Phoenix targeted search is good for finding transmitters in the 109to 1014W range, while the sky surveys do their best at higher powers. Current generation optical SETI is not yet competitive with microwave SETI.

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