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Unit 4: The good life

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Is the good life a life of virtuous activity, as Aristotle's account of eudaimonia claims?

Aristotle's eudaimonist conception of the good life: function, virtue, the mean and external goods
A VCE Philosophy Unit 4 answer on Aristotle's conception of the good life. Explains eudaimonia, the function argument, virtue as a mean, the role of external goods and practical wisdom, and evaluates the theory against objections from luck and from rival hedonist views.
6 min answer →

If wellbeing is not pleasure, is it getting what we want, or is it achieving certain objective goods whether we want them or not?

desire-satisfaction and objective list theories of wellbeing, including their advantages over hedonism and their objections
A VCE Philosophy Unit 4 answer on desire-satisfaction and objective list theories of wellbeing. Sets out Parfit's three-way taxonomy, explains each theory and its advance on hedonism, and evaluates the defective-desires and elitism objections.
6 min answer →

Do the ancient schools of Epicureanism and Stoicism offer a better route to the good life than Aristotle's eudaimonism?

Epicurean and Stoic conceptions of the good life, including tranquillity, pleasure and the role of virtue
A VCE Philosophy Unit 4 answer on Epicurean and Stoic conceptions of the good life. Explains Epicurus on pleasure as the absence of pain and Stoic virtue and apatheia, and evaluates both against objections about passivity and the demandingness of their ideals.
6 min answer →

Is the good life a life of pleasure, and can Mill's distinction between higher and lower pleasures save hedonism?

hedonism and well-being: Mill's qualitative utilitarianism and the higher and lower pleasures distinction
A VCE Philosophy Unit 4 answer on hedonist theories of the good life. Explains Bentham's quantitative hedonism, Mill's qualitative distinction between higher and lower pleasures and the competent judges test, and evaluates whether the distinction is consistent with hedonism.
6 min answer →

Would you plug into a machine guaranteeing perfect experiences, and what does the answer reveal about well-being?

theories of well-being: hedonism, desire-satisfaction and objective list, and Nozick's experience machine
A VCE Philosophy Unit 4 answer on theories of well-being. Sets out hedonism, desire-satisfaction and objective-list theories, reconstructs Nozick's experience machine argument against hedonism, and evaluates which theory best captures what makes a life go well.
6 min answer →

Do technology and human enhancement help us live the good life in the twenty-first century, or undermine it?

living the good life in the twenty-first century: technology, human enhancement and contemporary debates
A VCE Philosophy Unit 4 answer on living the good life in the twenty-first century. Applies theories of the good life to debates over technology and human enhancement, sets out transhumanist and bioconservative arguments using Bostrom and Sandel, and reaches a judgement.
6 min answer →

Must the good life be a moral life, or can a person flourish while acting immorally?

the relationship between the good life and morality, including whether moral goodness is necessary for the good life
A VCE Philosophy Unit 4 answer on the relationship between the good life and morality. Examines Plato's Ring of Gyches challenge, the eudaimonist claim that virtue is part of flourishing, and evaluates whether a successful immoralist could live well.
6 min answer →