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The good life is a term used to indicate the most optimal life a person could possibly live. It is often associated with the concept of eudaimonia in Aristotle's writings on ethics. For centuries the fields of philosophy and religion have debated over how to live the good life, but it has also become a topic of interest to psychologists.^[1] The driving principle behind psychological research on optimal functioning is that the absence of psychopathology alone does not indicate mental health.^[2] Recently, the field of Positive psychology has become the champion of a "build-what's-strong" approach to supplement the "fix-what's-wrong" emphasis in traditional psychotherapy (p. 631).^[1] The major obstacle to this process is how to identify factors that constitute the good life.

Defining The Good Life

In order to scientifically assess the good life, psychologists first need to operationalize the concept and its features. Most research in this area is based on one of the following Greek philosophical approaches to well-being: hedonism or eudaimonism.^[3]

Aristippus and Hedonia

In the hedonistic view, well-being consists of pleasure or happiness. According to the philosopher Aristippus, the goal of life is to experience as much pleasure as possible. As stated by Kahneman et al (1999), hedonic psychology is the study of "what makes experiences and life pleasant and unpleasant" (p. 144).^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Duckworth, Angela Lee; Steen, Tracy A.; Seligman, Martin E. P. (2005). "Positive Psychology in Clinical Practice" (PDF). Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. 1: 629–651. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144154.
^ Seligman, Martin E. P.; Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (2000). "Positive Psychology: An Introduction". American Psychologist. 55 (1): 5–14. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5.
^ ^a ^b Ryan, Richard M.; Deci, Edward L. (2001). "On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-being". Annual Review of Psychology. 52: 141–166. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141.

[duckworth_2005-1] Duckworth, Angela Lee; Steen, Tracy A.; Seligman, Martin E. P. (2005). "Positive Psychology in Clinical Practice" (PDF). Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. 1: 629–651. doi:10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144154.

[seligman_2000-2] Seligman, Martin E. P.; Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (2000). "Positive Psychology: An Introduction". American Psychologist. 55 (1): 5–14. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5.

[ryan_2001-3] Ryan, Richard M.; Deci, Edward L. (2001). "On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-being". Annual Review of Psychology. 52: 141–166. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141.

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