Aristotle & the politics of flourishing

The politics of flourishing

The good life for Aristotle has an inescapably social and political dimension. The Stoics don't need other people to follow the good life; they can do it on their own, in exile, in a prison cell, anywhere. But for Aristotle, many of the virtues are social, such as good humour, friendliness and patience. That means we can only achieve the good life together. We're naturally social and political creatures, which is why we feel fulfilled when we're working on a common project, uniting with others in friendship. Friendship is a key virtue for Aristotle - he devoted a whole book of the Nichomachean Ethics to it. The Epicureans also emphasised the importance of friendship, but theirs is a friendship disconnected from political life. It's a private friendship. For Aristotle, friendship in its highest form has a political or civic dimension. We love our friends not just because we like each other or are useful to each other, but because we share the same values and ideals for our society, and come together to advance those ideals.

The good society, then, is one which enables its members to reach human fulfilment. Humans are happy when the highest drives of their natures are fulfilled - the drive to know, to master skills and virtues, to connect with other people and work on common projects. Aristotle's vision of human nature was tested out, in the 1970s, by two psychologists called Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. They found that humans are not the profit motivated creatures that liberal economics believed. In fact, a series of experiments run by Deci and Ryan suggested humans will actually work harder at projects for less money, or even no money, if they find these projects to be meaningful, challenging socially engaging, and fun. That's why humans are prepared to spend so much time and effort on projects like blogs or Wikipedia, which don't necessarily make a profit. We're not killing time, we're making meaning. As Aristotle predicted, we're seeking ways to fulfil the higher drives of our nature for meaning, mastery, engagement, transcendence and fun. A good society creates opportunities for its citizens to fulfil these drives. Aristotle thought the best constitution for the pursuit of the good life is democracy, because democratic societies enable people to join together and set up clubs, associations, networks, communities of friends, which can practise philosophy and reason their way to the common good. And the solutions they come up with will be better than in a tyranny where only a handful of minds are engaged. In a democratic society, everyone is thinking, everyone is engaged.

- Jules Evans, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, 2013, p.214-5.