eudaimonism

Eudaimonism is a family of ethical theories that identify the good life with eudaimonia, commonly translated as flourishing, well-being, or living well. It treats flourishing as the ultimate aim of human life and asks how actions and character contribute to that end.

In classical philosophy, Aristotle is the central figure. He argues that eudaimonia is the highest human good, achieved through rational activity in accordance with virtue over a complete life. Virtue involves character dispositions—habits of choosing means between excess and deficiency. For Aristotle, both moral virtues (about temperance, courage, justice) and intellectual virtues (wisdom, practical reason) contribute to flourishing, with rational activity guided by virtue constituting the good life.

Eudaimonism typically contrasts with theories that identify the good with hedonic pleasure alone. The eudaimonist maintains that lasting flourishing requires more than momentary satisfaction; it requires the development of virtue, purpose, and rational agency, often within the context of social life and a broader human telos.

In later antiquity, Stoic ethics reframed eudaimonia as living in accordance with nature and reason, with virtue as sufficient for happiness regardless of external circumstances. In modern philosophy and psychology, eudaimonia informs virtue ethics and the concept of eudaimonic wellbeing, used to distinguish deeper, virtue-based wellbeing from hedonic wellbeing (pleasure or happiness).

Critiques include questions about cultural relativity of virtues, whether external goods are necessary, and challenges in measuring flourishing. Despite disagreements, eudaimonism remains a foundational approach to understanding the good life through virtue and human flourishing.