Blog #4

Though there are objections to all theories of what is good, I believe the objective list theory is the most defensible because it covers what makes a person’s life good. This theory takes the stance that pleasure, knowledge, achievement, beauty, relationships, and freedom are what makes someone’s well-being go up. I think this accurate and most defensible because I have never encountered someone that had a good life, or a happy life without these things. But I do believe that some of the things on the list are more important to having a good life than others. For example, I believe that having freedom is more important than beauty. I think someone can still have a satisfying, good life without being beautiful or being surrounded by beauty. But I do not believe one can have a full good life without freedom, in my opinion, it is a fundamental necessity for happiness, and beauty is secondary.

An objection to this theory is that it is too paternalistic, meaning it is too bossy. Though it is difficult to obtain knowledge, achievement, beauty, relationships, and freedom at the same time I do not think it is impossible. Besides, I do not believe that living a good life is easy. I think one must work at achieving the things on the list to be good every day or they will become stagnant.