Throwback: "Eudaimonia, A Moon Among The Stars"
A blast from the past with a Philosobites post from the original blog from 2022
(Enjoy this little reflection I wrote back in 2022 when the Philosobites blog looked a little different! It’s a bit crazy to me to see how much my writing style has changed in the last couple of years, especially considering how my perspective on sayings like “landing among the stars” has changed since writing this… Well, back to new writing next week!)
To achieve the good life, or to reach a state of eudaimonia, is a goal that has been on the minds of countless philosophers throughout history, and for good reason.
It should go without saying that “maximizing the potential of one’s life” is an objective that many philosophers have found themselves contemplating.
But this concept of a maximum, when applied to the act of living life itself, seems to be an area of serious debate, and there are a few reasons why — most of which revolve around the immense subjectivity that surrounds the question of a theoretical maximized life and what that might entail.
Universal Principles of a Life Well Lived
This is a topic where I believe there are quite a few generally actionable takeaways to be adopted and applied to one’s daily life, which seems logical, seeing as something as fundamental as the core pillars of a “life well lived” must naturally carry a degree of universality between individuals.
By tapping into this universal truth through the collective genius of established minds throughout time, it only stands to reason that the common threads of these differing perspectives on “the good life” would lead towards a collection of a few key general principles — a moon, comprised of a collection of ideals, standards, and values, that if one were to aim for, they would surely land among the stars.
While this concept is not one which could be dealt with or examined to any real degree in a single post, it is an idea that could easily be revisited time and time again in a space like Philosobites, with each return-trip yielding more in the way of lessons provided by respected philosophers, thought-leaders, and thinkers throughout time.
Hopefully, by slowly cataloging any number of these pieces of wisdom, one could begin to construct a sort of modern-day guidebook to the good life, like a roadmap to eudaimonia.
Much of what constitutes the discussion around this area of Philosophy can be traced back to he who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy, Socrates, and his general belief that a life well lived is a life that both contemplates and examines.
A necessary beginning on the path towards “maximizing” oneself to any real extent requires one to be willing to question all that surrounds them. That which stands up to the scrutiny of those who are willing to tear all down for the sake of answers should be considered truly just and truly beautiful in the eyes of Socrates.
The Importance of Self-Examination
And what does this mean exactly?
“The unexamined life is not worth living,” and as such, adopt and apply the opposite of this sentiment to achieve what Socrates would consider something akin to eudaimonia.
Examine life at every turn. Don’t allow yourself to become complacent. Keep your mind sharp. There is a real danger that can be found in a comfort so deep that one stops asking questions.
Maxims like these are the sorts of modern-day equivalents to the philosophy that someone like a Socrates lived by in Ancient Greece.
Very, very few truths in life should be considered truly unconditional, and it is the responsibility of each and every brilliant mind out there to take the chances provided to them to, every so often, take the beliefs that they hold so dear, and just poke at them a little.
Some would simply call this a healthy curiosity.
It isn’t necessarily a new concept, but it is a pillar of a life well lived that has evidently become more lax in the somewhat recent past, as it would seem that increasingly more of the general population finds themselves set in their ways, calloused to the idea of gaining new knowledge, seemingly due to the fact that it would imply the knowledge they had previously was in some way false.
It need not be said just how dangerous of a mindset this is to adopt. Our collective understanding of this world and of each other is an ever-growing one, and should not be limited by our own lack of effort or will to challenge those ideas.
Traditionally, the quest for eudaimonia has been equated to the process of flourishing, much in the way of a flower, where the necessary components of growth are those elements which assure one’s well-being.
To Socrates, to become fixed in one’s understanding of life’s questions is to wither.
Conclusion
In summary, if there is one hint that should be taken from Socrates on the subject of aiming at the moon that is eudaimonia, it is that one should never harden oneself from challenging their ideas and beliefs on how one perceives and understands the world that surrounds them, but rather, should welcome the opportunity to further test their mettle.
Our ideas and beliefs are like those little carbon deposits under the earth’s crust, and the pressure of reexamination and analysis is exactly what is needed to transform them into diamonds.
I’ll leave you here with a few journaling prompts for those who want to do a bit of guided thinking around this topic:
What does the concept of eudaimonia mean to you? How do you interpret the idea of living a life “lived well”?
How do you maintain a healthy curiosity about the world and your beliefs? What questions do you find yourself revisiting frequently?
If you were to create a modern-day guidebook to the good life, what key principles and lessons would you include? How would these guide your actions and decisions?
Reply of the Week!
This comment was in response to last week’s Swinging Big and Measuring Success.
I’ve heard of people using bullet journals and such to keep track of accomplishments and other things that bring gratitude. Really nice to hear more about how that process works for people on an individual scale.
Thanks for responding
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For now, have a great rest of the week. Talk soon!
This was a great read! Thank you for sharing.
Great post!
I am of the mind that "maximizing" and "optimizing" are useful fictions for what one could do with theoretically complete information and ideal values. Once adopted, however, the salient features that rise to meet that lens are often "traded down" on richness. Some might call this "simplified" and recognize some utility in it, i.e. for communication. However, it may well be this "richness" that illuminates the moon for which we aim, and conjoins the storied constellations, without which stars would make for poor consolation prizes.