‘The Good Life’ available to all people interested

Last week, Chris Jackson, philosophy instructor at Mt. Hood, presented what a modern educated individual could accept as a telos, that purpose or goal, for “The Good Life”: the idea of flourishing.

This week saw the conclusion of the three-week series on the good life with a presentation by MHCC social scientist and political science instructor Janet Campbell on the feasibility of using such a guiding ethos to affect change in society, followed by an interactive sharing of ideas between Jackson, Campbell and the audience.

“Politically addressing this issue is deeply linked to culture. Flourishing must be left up to common consensus; thus, norms must be changed in order to accomplish this,” according to Campbell. The United States with its “moral stubbornness” would have a difficult time making such changes just because of the prevailing idea that laws are to act as a per se declaration of beliefs, she noted.

Though the discussion group was markedly smaller than the previous two weeks, the final session was very lively and many insights were shared. Deep ideas and concepts came forth, such as Campbell’s notion, “I think ‘deviance’ is the only way to experience growth,” and Jackson’s question, “Should we just keep shaping society slowly through the continued use of liberal policies, since it has seemed to be effective so far?”

Ultimately, however, it seems that the modern “good life” might not be an idea so new, but much more achievable than it has been historically. We once named such people the Renaissance Men, but now we call them the Flourishing Individuals. On a personal level, it boils down to one being a well-rounded human being who is able to define happiness for yourself, yet not hamper anyone else on their path as they seek to obtain it for themselves. In fact, when you reach that point of understanding, you might just find out that you actually help others simply by seeking happiness yourself.

Participants walked away from the MHCC seminar knowing that even though it means something just a little different to each of us, with just a little tolerance and a lot of self effort, we all could obtain the “good life.”