Blog#12 Martha Nussbaum

I agree with nussbaum view on the good life being dependent on luck and chance and exposed the possibility of failure in many ways. An example I can give is one day you can have a good day and things will go well when you go to work and then go to school, but the next day you can do the same thing as the day before but  this day adversity hit. Nothing changed for one day to the next it was just luck or random events that was out of the individuals control. 

  Furthermore what I can add is the philosophical ideas of the Buddha and of the Roman stoics, the idea that everything is impermanence, nothing is static everything is always in flux. With this idea even if we do what we must and play our roll how Marcus Aurelius Would suggest even then luck plays a part in our fate. Even in nature there is a chaotic nature. 

  In the end expecting this argument doesn’t make me feel differently about the way I value things. I value what I value and although there are random hick ups in life to go after what I love and makes me happy, as Aristotle would say to go after eudaemonia is based on actions. There is a quote by Aristotle that says “ you are what you repeatedly do every day so whatever you’re doing is what you become, therefore is not an accident it’s a habit”. So knowing there is chaos won’t change my views on what I value. 

  Knowing that I can fail through no fault of my own doesn’t make me think differently of my goals. Many times in life I failed in school or failed to get a job although I tried things came up that were out of my control. Another example I can give is the myth of sisyphus. He would roll a giant rock up a hill but when he would get to the top and it would roll down and he would have to do this over and over for eternity. Life is similar in a sense that if you fall or fail through the randomness of life you get back up and try it again through introspection examine your life, then you can reach ataraxia and eudaemonia then live the good life. 

Comments

  1. Professor RogerNovember 30, 2021 at 9:20 AM

    It's a balance for Aristotle. Luck plays a role, but effort and motivation also count for a lot.

    ReplyDelete

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