Human Flourishing
A life going well as a whole: secure, meaningful, and self-directed, not only comfortable.
What the essays say
The capitalism essay suggests judging economic activity by what it allows people to do with their lives, not only by how much of it there is.
Did it expand their ability to build secure, meaningful, self-directed lives?
Where people disagree
- Aristotle’s idea of eudaimonia treats flourishing as living and acting well over a whole life.
- Other views define well-being as pleasure and the absence of pain, or as getting what you want.
- Some thinkers argue governments should aim at flourishing; others say that is for each person to define, and the state should stay out of it.
