Flourishing , or human flourishing , is the complete goodness of humans in a developmental life-span, that somehow includes positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, along with other basic goods.
158-593: The term is rooted in ancient philosophical and theological usages. Aristotle ’s term eudaimonia is one source for understanding human flourishing. The Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament, also speak of flourishing, as they compare the just person to a growing tree. Christian Scriptures, or the New Testament, build upon Jewish usage and speak of flourishing as it can exist in heaven. The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas drew from Aristotle as well as
316-416: A World Happiness Report has been published. Happiness is evaluated, as in "How happy are you with your life as a whole?", and in emotional reports, as in "How happy are you now?," and people seem able to use happiness as appropriate in these verbal contexts. Using these measures, the report identifies the countries with the highest levels of happiness. In subjective well-being measures, the primary distinction
474-574: A gymnasium and a colonnade ( peripatos ), from which the school acquired the name Peripatetic . Aristotle conducted courses and research at the school for the next twelve years. He often lectured small groups of distinguished students and, along with some of them, such as Theophrastus , Eudemus , and Aristoxenus , Aristotle built a large library which included manuscripts, maps, and museum objects. While in Athens, his wife Pythias died and Aristotle became involved with Herpyllis of Stagira. They had
632-541: A "survival of the fittest" origin of living things and their organs, and ridiculed the idea that accidents could lead to orderly results. To put his views into modern terms, he nowhere says that different species can have a common ancestor , or that one kind can change into another , or that kinds can become extinct . Aristotle did not do experiments in the modern sense. He used the ancient Greek term pepeiramenoi to mean observations, or at most investigative procedures like dissection. In Generation of Animals , he finds
790-455: A Swedish philosopher and phenomenological researcher, posited that the perception of time affects the change in focus throughout life. In early adulthood, most view life optimistically, looking to the future and seeing an entire life ahead of them. Those that fall into the middle life, see that life has passed behind them as well as seeing more life ahead. Those in older adulthood often see their lives as behind them. This shift in perspective causes
948-401: A capacity for self-cultivation, and, if necessary, self-transformation. Through self-cultivation a person is enabled to discharge a responsibility which is uniquely human: to help keep the world in good order. The Daoist conception of a flourishing life is enrooted in this vision of the human being: it is a virtuous life in which, through self-cultivation on the bodily, mental and spiritual sides,
1106-518: A cedar in Lebanon.” Jeremiah 17:8, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” See also, Isaiah 44:4. Flourishing of the collective/people/city. At times, Israel
1264-533: A complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant impact across the world, and remain a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion. Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship . The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance , and
1422-562: A daughter whom they also named Pythias. In 343/42 BC, Aristotle was invited to Pella by Philip II of Macedon in order to become the tutor to his thirteen-year-old son Alexander ; a choice perhaps influenced by the relationship of Aristotle's family with the Macedonian dynasty. Aristotle taught Alexander at the private school of Mieza , in the gardens of the Nymphs , the royal estate near Pella. Alexander's education probably included
1580-700: A definition of flourishing. To complete, or " operationalize ", the definition of what it means to be functioning optimally, or flourishing, diagnostic criteria have been developed for a flourishing life: Positive emotional feelings such as moods , and sentiments such as happiness, carry more personal and psychological benefits than just a pleasant, personal subjective experience. Flourishing widens attention , broaden behavioral repertoires, which means to broaden one's skills or regularly performed actions, increase intuition , and increase creativity . Secondly, good feelings can have physiological manifestations, such as significant and positive cardiovascular effects, such as
1738-438: A fertilized hen's egg of a suitable stage and opens it to see the embryo's heart beating inside. Instead, he practiced a different style of science: systematically gathering data, discovering patterns common to whole groups of animals, and inferring possible causal explanations from these. This style is common in modern biology when large amounts of data become available in a new field, such as genomics . It does not result in
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#17327718637361896-497: A fluid such as air. In this system, heavy bodies in steady fall indeed travel faster than light ones (whether friction is ignored, or not ), and they do fall more slowly in a denser medium. Newton's "forced" motion corresponds to Aristotle's "violent" motion with its external agent, but Aristotle's assumption that the agent's effect stops immediately it stops acting (e.g., the ball leaves the thrower's hand) has awkward consequences: he has to suppose that surrounding fluid helps to push
2054-424: A fundamental aspect of living in harmony with the dao is to live in harmony with nature. Moreover, Daoist de , usually translated as virtue, has not a moral dimension; in the case of human beings it indicates the qualities or dispositions that allow people to live a flourishing life. De is strictly related to ziran , another key Daoist concept usually translated as spontaneity or naturalness. In synthesis, to flourish
2212-434: A habitual intellectual attitude of openness to truth, one that keeps a person's mind open to learning in any realm that he encounters. According to Daoism , the most crucial characteristic which distinguishes human beings from other living beings is the ability to recognize, follow and identify with the dao , or tao, (Way) (D 23), a mysterious, and ineffable source that holds sway over all things. And this ability presupposes
2370-455: A house is the bricks, stones, timbers, etc., or whatever constitutes the potential house, while the form of the substance is the actual house, namely 'covering for bodies and chattels' or any other differentia that let us define something as a house. The formula that gives the components is the account of the matter, and the formula that gives the differentia is the account of the form. Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle's philosophy aims at
2528-479: A human. The Hebrew Bible , known by Christians as the Old Testament , contains many references to human flourishing that have influenced Western philosophy, indicating a cohesive theology whereby God in creative fruitfulness calls human beings to imitate the divine plenitude and life-giving creativity. The Book of Genesis, particularly in its first chapter, presents God as creating the world and calling for
2686-597: A linear scale, and noted various exceptions, such as that sharks had a placenta like the tetrapods. To a modern biologist, the explanation, not available to Aristotle, is convergent evolution . Philosophers of science have generally concluded that Aristotle was not interested in taxonomy, but zoologists who studied this question in the early 21st century think otherwise. He believed that purposive final causes guided all natural processes; this teleological view justified his observed data as an expression of formal design. Aristotle's psychology , given in his treatise On
2844-474: A lot of evidence to support this idea that happiness is affected in some way by genetics. In a 2016 study, Michael Minkov and Michael Harris Bond found that a gene by the name of SLC6A4 was not a good predictor of happiness level in humans. On the other hand, there have been many studies that have found genetics to be a key part in predicting and understanding happiness in humans. In a review article discussing many studies on genetics and happiness, they discussed
3002-630: A momentary state but also as something that is sustained over time, then one might also argue that a state of flourishing should be such that resources, financial and otherwise, are sufficiently stable so that what is going well in each of these five domains is likely to continue into the future for some time to come.[…] I would in no way claim that these domains above entirely characterize flourishing. […] I would only argue here that, whatever else flourishing might consist in, these five domains above would also be included, and thus these five domains above may provide some common ground for discussion. To summarize
3160-419: A new model for happiness and well-being based on positive psychology. This book expounds on simple exercises that anyone can do to create a happier life and to flourish. Flourish , is a tool to understand happiness by emphasizing how the five pillars of Positive Psychology, also known as PERMA , increase the quality of life for people who apply it to their lives. According to Fredrickson and Losada, flourishing
3318-480: A number of subjects, such as ethics and politics , as well as standard literary texts, like Euripides and Homer . It is likely that during Aristotle's time in the Macedonian court, other prominent nobles, like Ptolemy and Cassander , would have occasionally attended his lectures. Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and his own attitude towards Persia was strongly ethnocentric . In one famous example, he counsels Alexander to be "a leader to
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#17327718637363476-414: A number of times. It may be inferred that his motivation for doing so was he found it suitable for his purposes, for he was reputed to be the son of a carpenter and therefore was not drawing upon immediate personal experience but a wider tradition. In one place, he compares different ways of receiving “the word” and responding with different kinds of flourishing: some receive it with joy but like plants with
3634-435: A part of particular things. For example, it is possible that there is no particular good in existence, but "good" is still a proper universal form. Aristotle disagreed with Plato on this point, arguing that all universals are instantiated at some period of time, and that there are no universals that are unattached to existing things. In addition, Aristotle disagreed with Plato about the location of universals. Where Plato spoke of
3792-470: A person comes to identify with the dao, the mysterious source and sustainer of the cosmos. This brief and vague presentation should be acceptable by exponents of all Daoist schools. Nevertheless, there are huge differences among them about what precisely means to harmonize life with the dao and how to achieve it. For instance, in organized religious movements as the Ways of Great Clarity and of Complete Perfection,
3950-477: A person feels more whole, alive, self-sufficient, and yet a part of the world. This is similar to the flow concept of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi . The concept of flow is the idea that after our basic needs are met we can achieve greater happiness by altering our consciousness by becoming so engaged in a task that we lose our sense of time. Our intense focus causes us to forget any other issues, which in return promotes positive emotions. Erich Fromm said "Happiness
4108-680: A person's happiness. From abstract: "A friend who lives within a mile (about 1.6 km) and who becomes happy increases the probability that a person is happy by 25%." Various writers, including Camus and Tolle , have written that the act of searching or seeking for happiness is incompatible with being happy. John Stuart Mill believed that for the great majority of people happiness is best achieved en passant, rather than striving for it directly. This meant no self-consciousness, scrutiny, self-interrogation, dwelling on, thinking about, imagining or questioning on one's happiness. Then, if otherwise fortunately circumstanced, one would "inhale happiness with
4266-498: A priori principles. Aristotle's "natural philosophy" spans a wide range of natural phenomena including those now covered by physics, biology and other natural sciences. In Aristotle's terminology, "natural philosophy" is a branch of philosophy examining the phenomena of the natural world, and includes fields that would be regarded today as physics, biology and other natural sciences. Aristotle's work encompassed virtually all facets of intellectual inquiry. Aristotle makes philosophy in
4424-418: A property or a relation to other things. When one looks at an apple, for example, one sees an apple, and one can also analyse a form of an apple. In this distinction, there is a particular apple and a universal form of an apple. Moreover, one can place an apple next to a book, so that one can speak of both the book and apple as being next to each other. Plato argued that there are some universal forms that are not
4582-500: A purpose; they feel some degree of mastery and accept all parts of themselves; they have a sense of personal growth in the sense that they are always growing , evolving , and changing; finally, they have a sense of autonomy and an internal locus of control , they chose their fate in life instead of being victims of fate. Psychologist Martin Seligman, one of the founding fathers of happiness research, wrote in his book, Flourish ,
4740-405: A reduction in blood pressure . Third, good feelings predict healthy mental and physical outcomes. Also, positive affect and flourishing is related to longevity . In a 2022 study of intrusive thoughts and flourishing, Jesse Omoregie and Jerome Carson found that people who experience flourishing would usually experience minimal intrusive thoughts. Omoregie and Carson further concluded that flourishing
4898-479: A relation to the rest of creation. Flourishing of the “just man”. The imagery that compares the just or righteous person to a flourishing tree can be found in many places in the Hebrew Scriptures: Psalm 1:3, “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.” Psalm 92:12-14, “The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like
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5056-621: A set of six books called the Organon around 40 BC by Andronicus of Rhodes or others among his followers. The books are: The order of the books (or the teachings from which they are composed) is not certain, but this list was derived from analysis of Aristotle's writings. It goes from the basics, the analysis of simple terms in the Categories, the analysis of propositions and their elementary relations in On Interpretation , to
5214-422: A shallow root system fall away in difficult times; others are like “good soil” that “brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Jesus Christ also compares union with him to be the source of flourishing: “As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it
5372-521: A shift in the pursuit of happiness from more tactile, object based happiness, to social and relational based happiness. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a pyramid depicting the levels of human needs, psychological, and physical. When a human being ascends the steps of the pyramid, self-actualization is reached. Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, Maslow envisioned moments of extraordinary experience, known as peak experiences , profound moments of love, understanding, happiness, or rapture, during which
5530-549: A son whom Aristotle named after his father, Nicomachus . This period in Athens, between 335 and 323 BC, is when Aristotle is believed to have composed many of his philosophical works. He wrote many dialogues, of which only fragments have survived. Those works that have survived are in treatise form and were not, for the most part, intended for widespread publication; they are generally thought to be lecture aids for his students. His most important treatises include Physics , Metaphysics , Nicomachean Ethics , Politics , On
5688-431: A sort of second nature for us. Habits are extremely difficult to change, and, therefore, have an extremely significant part in shaping human behavior and in contributing or impeding true human flourishing. The possession of good habits, virtues, is an essential part of human flourishing. In order to flourish, one needs a habitual knowledge of both his/her condition and the final end he/she is pursuing, true happiness. But this
5846-562: A thrown stone, in the Physics (254b10), and "natural motion", such as of a falling object, in On the Heavens (300a20). In violent motion, as soon as the agent stops causing it, the motion stops also: in other words, the natural state of an object is to be at rest, since Aristotle does not address friction . With this understanding, it can be observed that, as Aristotle stated, heavy objects (on
6004-481: A virtue to be considered a key strength in the field of positive psychology it must meet the demands of 12 criteria, namely ubiquity (cross-cultural), fulfilling, morally valued, does not diminish others, be a nonfelicitous opposite (have a clear antonym that is negative), traitlike, measurable, distinct, have paragons (distinctly show up in individuals' behaviors), have prodigies (show up in youth), be selectively absent (distinctly does not show up in some individuals), and
6162-946: A whole." People have been trying to measure happiness for centuries. In 1780, the English utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham proposed that as happiness was the primary goal of humans, it should be measured as a way of determining how well the government was performing. Today, happiness is typically measured using self-report surveys. Self-reporting is prone to cognitive biases and other sources of errors, such as peak–end rule . Studies show that memories of felt emotions can be inaccurate. Affective forecasting research shows that people are poor predictors of their future emotions, including how happy they will be. Happiness economists are not overly concerned with philosophical and methodological issues and continue to use questionaries to measure average happiness of populations. Several scales have been developed to measure happiness: Since 2012,
6320-544: A woman with origins from Chalcis , Euboea . Nicomachus was said to have belonged to the medical guild of Asclepiadae and was likely responsible for Aristotle's early interest in biology and medicine. Ancient tradition held that Aristotle's family descended from the legendary physician Asclepius and his son Machaon . Both of Aristotle's parents died when he was still at a young age and Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian. Although little information about Aristotle's childhood has survived, he probably spent some time in
6478-464: A “readiness to flourish,” to take up any occasion to flourish, fighting against our bad habits and developing good ones, is needed to really flourish. An occasional readiness and a momentary intention is insufficient, for they could never attain stable results. What is needed is a stable readiness to flourish, that is “a “habitual readiness,” similar to the state of a healthy plant that is always ready to absorb necessary nutrients or grow or bear fruit when
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6636-401: Is collective , for it exists only within some community; it is shareable , that is, many people can participate, enjoy, or use it simultaneously. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle , contributed greatly to a deeper understanding of flourishing as a model for human life. Better-known for his work in metaphysics and logic, he was nevertheless a biologist first and foremost. His understanding of
6794-442: Is a Greek term variously translated as happiness, welfare, flourishing , and blessedness. Xavier Landes has proposed that happiness include measures of subjective wellbeing, mood and eudaimonia. These differing uses can give different results. Whereas Nordic countries often score highest on swb surveys , South American countries score higher on affect-based surveys of current positive life experiencing. The implied meaning of
6952-425: Is a change where the substrate of the thing that has undergone the change has itself changed. In that particular change he introduces the concept of potentiality ( dynamis ) and actuality ( entelecheia ) in association with the matter and the form. Referring to potentiality, this is what a thing is capable of doing or being acted upon if the conditions are right and it is not prevented by something else. For example,
7110-609: Is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, or engaging in enjoyable activities. However, happiness can also arise spontaneously, without any apparent external cause. Happiness is closely linked to well-being and overall life satisfaction. Studies have shown that individuals who experience higher levels of happiness tend to have better physical and mental health, stronger social relationships, and greater resilience in
7268-454: Is a historical accident: his works on botany have been lost, but two books on plants by his pupil Theophrastus have survived. Aristotle reports on the sea-life visible from observation on Lesbos and the catches of fishermen. He describes the catfish , electric ray , and frogfish in detail, as well as cephalopods such as the octopus and paper nautilus . His description of the hectocotyl arm of cephalopods, used in sexual reproduction,
7426-732: Is a variable that helps in the reduction of psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts. The many components of flourishing elicit more tangible outcomes than simply mental or physiological results. For example, components such as self-efficacy , likability, and prosocial behavior encourage active involvement with goal pursuits and with the environment . This promotes people to pursue and approach new and different situations. Therefore, flourishing adults have higher levels of motivation to work actively to pursue new goals and are in possession of more past skills and resources. This helps people to satisfy life and societal goals, such as creating opportunities, performing well in
7584-465: Is affected by life circumstances and situation, and a remaining 40 percent of happiness is subject to self-control. When discussing genetics and their effects on individuals it is important to first understand that genetics do not predict behavior. It is possible for genes to increase the likelihood of individuals being happier compared to others, but they do not 100 percent predict behavior. At this point in scientific research, it has been hard to find
7742-419: Is also a final cause or end. Then Aristotle proceeds and concludes that the actuality is prior to potentiality in formula, in time and in substantiality. With this definition of the particular substance (i.e., matter and form), Aristotle tries to solve the problem of the unity of the beings, for example, "what is it that makes a man one"? Since, according to Plato there are two Ideas: animal and biped, how then
7900-434: Is attainable also in this life, and is the happiness of which Aristotle spoke. It is also relevant to note that, though identifying felicitas with natural contemplation of the divine, Aquinas acknowledges, following Aristotle, that some material goods are necessary aids for its attainment. Felicitas , or imperfect beatitudo , is full human flourishing at the natural level and, as just seen, according to Aquinas, it
8058-508: Is between cognitive life evaluations and emotional reports. The UK began to measure national well-being in 2012, following Bhutan , which had already been measuring gross national happiness . Academic economists and international economic organizations are arguing for and developing multi-dimensional dashboards which combine subjective and objective indicators to provide a more direct and explicit assessment of human wellbeing. There are many different contributors to adult wellbeing, such as
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#17327718637368216-454: Is certainly useful for psychological studies on flourishing, it doesn't capture the essence of human flourishing, since it may allow us to consider as flourishing evidently evil people, as brutal dictators, if they test good in these five fields. To avoid this misunderstanding of human flourishing, Seligman himself, and also other thinkers as Christopher Peterson, have also discussed what they call “character strengths” or “virtues.”. Seligman gives
8374-466: Is characterized by four main components: goodness , generative, growth , and resilience . According to Keyes, only 18.1% of Americans are actually flourishing. The majority of Americans can be classified as mentally unhealthy (depressed) or not mentally healthy or flourishing (moderately mentally healthy/languishing). Tyler J. VanderWeele , a prominent epidemiologist and expert in biostatistics who has extensively studied human flourishing, has proposed
8532-405: Is compared to a “vine” that has been planted by the hand of God. Ezekiel 19:10. Hebrew Scripture also expounds on what could be called “anti-flourishing,” that is, the counterpart to flourishing on account of righteousness and Torah meditation: “The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away.” Also: Ps 35:5, Job 21:18. Here, too, a prophetic vision is combined with the image of
8690-573: Is desirable and appealing. Flourishing is a state of being rather than a feeling or experience. It comes from engaging in activities that both express and produce the actualization of one's potential . According to some voices in Positive Psychology, flourishing is a "descriptor of positive mental health." According to Fredrickson and Losada, flourishing is living ...within an optimal range of human functioning, one that connotes goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience." According to
8848-600: Is impossible by human natural forces in our current condition, and God's grace is necessary for full human flourishing. Perfect human flourishing, according to Aquinas, consists in the direct contemplation of God and in loving Him, participating in His Trinitarian life. This highly exceeds human powers (as just seen, even in the state prior to sin); theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, which are gratuitous gifts of God, are necessary to allow man to reach such an end, for which its powers are not proportionate. Also,
9006-403: Is in principle attainable, since it is proportionate to human nature. In the state of innocence, humans were able to operate in their full powers and therefore to operate natural goods also without the help of divine grace, though the latter was already necessary to operate at the supernatural level and to reach perfect union with God. On the other hand, actual human nature is partially corrupted by
9164-473: Is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period . His father, Nicomachus , died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At around eighteen years old, he joined Plato 's Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty seven ( c. 347 BC ). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at
9322-541: Is man a unity? However, according to Aristotle, the potential being (matter) and the actual one (form) are one and the same. Aristotle's immanent realism means his epistemology is based on the study of things that exist or happen in the world, and rises to knowledge of the universal, whereas for Plato epistemology begins with knowledge of universal Forms (or ideas) and descends to knowledge of particular imitations of these. Aristotle uses induction from examples alongside deduction , whereas Plato relies on deduction from
9480-440: Is mostly used in relation to two factors: Some usages can include both of these factors. Subjective well-being (swb) includes measures of current experience (emotions, moods , and feelings) and of life satisfaction . For instance Sonja Lyubomirsky has described happiness as " the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one's life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile. " Eudaimonia ,
9638-589: Is not a general consensus about a definition of flourishing. For instance, there is also a lot of debate about the mutual relations between flourishing and some related concepts, as the Aristotelian concept of eudaimonia , and the concepts of happiness and well-being . According to a Neo-Aristotelian view, the concept of human flourishing offers an explanation of the human good that is objective, inclusive, individualized, agent-relative, self-directed and social. It views human flourishing objectively because it
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#17327718637369796-433: Is not sufficient, since knowledge of the good is not sufficient to cause our good acting. Human perfection also requires a continuous effort to attain deep changes on the personal level, cooperating with divine grace in destroying the old man, with his wrong habits, and in building up the new man, full of virtues (this is true also on the natural level of acquired virtues). In order to do that, a “readiness to change,” or rather
9954-433: Is supported by some institutions. Numerous short-term self-help interventions have been developed and demonstrated to improve happiness. A person's level of subjective well-being is determined by many different factors and social influences prove to be a strong one. Results from the famous Framingham Heart Study indicate that friends three degrees of separation away (that is, friends of friends of friends) can affect
10112-530: Is taken, so from works of the virtues is obtained hope of eternal life and happiness. And as in the flower there is a beginning of the fruit, so in the works of the virtues is a beginning of happiness, which will exist when knowledge and charity are made perfect.” Commenting on Psalm 28 (27 according to the Vulgate), he uses the verb reflorere (to reflower) to the Resurrection of Christ, by applying to it
10270-456: Is that bears much fruit.” In contrast, the one who does not “abide” in him experiences "anti-flourishing": “If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.” Christ stated that the fruit one bears is a sign of moral goodness, comparing people to trees as in his oft-quoted contention that “you will know them by their fruits." It seems that, for Christ, bare life
10428-413: Is the fulfilment of the end of the potentiality. Because the end ( telos ) is the principle of every change, and potentiality exists for the sake of the end, actuality, accordingly, is the end. Referring then to the previous example, it can be said that an actuality is when a plant does one of the activities that plants do. For that for the sake of which ( to hou heneka ) a thing is, is its principle, and
10586-534: Is the indication that man has found the answer to the problem of human existence: the productive realization of his potentialities and thus, simultaneously, being one with the world and preserving the integrity of his self. In spending his energy productively he increases his powers, he „burns without being consumed."" Self-determination theory relates intrinsic motivation to three needs: competence , autonomy , and relatedness . Competence refers to an individual's ability to be effective in their interactions with
10744-495: Is the opposite of both pathology and languishing , which are described as living a life that feels hollow and empty. Although “flourishing” could refer to the general healthy state of a plant as it grows, properly speaking it is the stage in a vascular plant's morphogenesis , specifically the stage of growth when it develops flowers . The English term “flourish” comes from the Latin florere , “to bloom, blossom, flower,” from
10902-566: Is to live in harmony with the dao, that is to live spontaneously, so comply one's life with the nature of the dao. "Flourishing" as a psychological concept has been developed by Corey Keyes and Barbara Fredrickson . Keyes collaborated with Carol Ryff in testing her Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being , and in 2002 published his theoretical considerations in an article on The Mental Health Continuum: From Languishing to Flourishing . qualified by Fredrickson as "path-breaking work that measures mental health in positive terms rather than by
11060-482: Is translated as “happiness”; other times, as “welfare” or “well-being,” showing that no translation is fully adequate to capture its meaning in Greek. Philosopher Joe Sachs emphasizes the importance of the activity of eudaimonia , a “being-at-work” of the human soul. This indicates that “flourishing” can adequately translate eudaimonia , insofar as the term signifies the dynamism of the principle of life and growth within
11218-460: Is usually called the PERMA model. He claims also that health is an essential element of flourishing, but he presents a quite vast notion of health, including biological assets (e.g., the hormone oxytocin, longer DNA telomeres), subjective assets (e.g., optimism, vitality), and functional assets (good marriage, rich friendships, engaging work) (See Seligman, Flourish, 209). Although Seligman's PERMA model
11376-652: The Early Modern period. John Philoponus (in Late antiquity ) and Galileo (in Early modern period ) are said to have shown by experiment that Aristotle's claim that a heavier object falls faster than a lighter object is incorrect. A contrary opinion is given by Carlo Rovelli , who argues that Aristotle's physics of motion is correct within its domain of validity, that of objects in the Earth 's gravitational field immersed in
11534-525: The Great Comet of 371 BC . Aristotle was one of the first people to record any geological observations. He stated that geological change was too slow to be observed in one person's lifetime. The geologist Charles Lyell noted that Aristotle described such change, including "lakes that had dried up" and "deserts that had become watered by rivers", giving as examples the growth of the Nile delta since
11692-476: The History of Animals in a graded scale of perfection, a nonreligious version of the scala naturae , with man at the top. His system had eleven grades of animal, from highest potential to lowest, expressed in their form at birth: the highest gave live birth to hot and wet creatures, the lowest laid cold, dry mineral-like eggs. Animals came above plants , and these in turn were above minerals. He grouped what
11850-553: The Macedonian capital, making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy . At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Plato's Academy . He became distinguished as a researcher and lecturer, earning for himself the nickname "mind of the school" by his tutor Plato . In Athens, he probably experienced the Eleusinian Mysteries as he wrote when describing
12008-456: The Milky Way was made up of "those stars which are shaded by the earth from the sun's rays," pointing out partly correctly that if "the size of the sun is greater than that of the earth and the distance of the stars from the earth many times greater than that of the sun, then... the sun shines on all the stars and the earth screens none of them." He also wrote descriptions of comets, including
12166-508: The Physics (215a25), Aristotle effectively states a quantitative law, that the speed, v, of a falling body is proportional (say, with constant c) to its weight, W, and inversely proportional to the density, ρ, of the fluid in which it is falling:; Aristotle implies that in a vacuum the speed of fall would become infinite, and concludes from this apparent absurdity that a vacuum is not possible. Opinions have varied on whether Aristotle intended to state quantitative laws. Henri Carteron held
12324-1104: The state of things ." The idea of motivational hedonism is the theory that pleasure is the aim for human life. Since 2000 the field of positive psychology , which focuses on the study of happiness and human flourishing rather than maladjusted behavior or illness, expanded drastically in terms of scientific publications. It has produced many different views on causes of happiness, and on factors that correlate with happiness, such as positive social interactions with family and friends. These factors include six key virtues: 1. Wisdom and knowledge, which includes creativity, curiosity, love of learning and open-mindedness. 2. Courage, which includes bravery, persistence, integrity, and vitality. 3. Humanity, which includes love, kindness, and social intelligence. 4. Justice, which includes leadership, fairness, and loyalty. 5. Temperance, which includes self-regulation, prudence, forgiveness, humility, patience and modesty. 6. Transcendence, which includes religious/spirituality, hope, gratitude, appreciation of beauty and excellence, and humor. In order for
12482-412: The universal . Aristotle's ontology places the universal ( katholou ) in particulars ( kath' hekaston ), things in the world, whereas for Plato the universal is a separately existing form which actual things imitate. For Aristotle, "form" is still what phenomena are based on, but is "instantiated" in a particular substance. Plato argued that all things have a universal form , which could be either
12640-697: The workplace , and producing goods, work and careers that are highly valued in American society. Authors, Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey, in their book, An Everyone Culture, "argues that organizations do best when they build an environment that encourages constant personal development among their employees." This success results in higher satisfaction and reinforces Frederickson's Broaden and Build model, for more positive adults reap more benefits and, are more positive, which creates an upward spiral. Aristotle Aristotle ( Attic Greek : Ἀριστοτέλης , romanized: Aristotélēs ; 384–322 BC)
12798-519: The "extreme view" that Aristotle's concept of force was basically qualitative, but other authors reject this. Archimedes corrected Aristotle's theory that bodies move towards their natural resting places; metal boats can float if they displace enough water ; floating depends in Archimedes' scheme on the mass and volume of the object, not, as Aristotle thought, its elementary composition. Aristotle's writings on motion remained influential until
12956-543: The Bible, and utilized the notion of flourishing in his philosophical theology. More recently, the positive psychology of Martin Seligman , Corey Keyes , Barbara Fredrickson , and others, have expanded and developed the notion of human flourishing. Empirical studies, such as those of the Harvard Human Flourishing Program, and practical applications, indicate the importance of the concept and
13114-527: The Colonies , were composed by the philosopher for the young prince. After Philip II's assassination in 336 BC, Aristotle returned to Athens for the second and final time a year later. As a metic , Aristotle could not own property in Athens and thus rented a building known as the Lyceum (named after the sacred grove of Apollo Lykeios ), in which he established his own school. The building included
13272-934: The Dominican Medieval theologian, uses “flourishing” language in metaphorical and analogical senses. For instance, he asserts that “as therefore we say that a tree flowers by its flower, so do we say that the Father, by the Word or the Son, speaks Himself, and His creatures; and that the Father and the Son love each other and us, by the Holy Ghost, or by Love proceeding;” he writes also that “Christ wished "to flower" by His holy life, not in His carnal birth.” He says also that virtues “are also called “flowers,” namely, in relation to future happiness; because just as from flowers hope of fruit
13430-546: The Good Life" became the most popular course in the history of Yale University and was made available for free online to non-Yale students. Some commentators focus on the difference between the hedonistic tradition of seeking pleasant and avoiding unpleasant experiences, and the eudaimonic tradition of living life in a full and deeply satisfying way. Kahneman has said that ""When you look at what people want for themselves, how they pursue their goals, they seem more driven by
13588-610: The Greeks and a despot to the barbarians". Alexander's education under the guardianship of Aristotle likely lasted for only a few years, as at around the age of sixteen he returned to Pella and was appointed regent of Macedon by his father Philip. During this time, Aristotle is said to have gifted Alexander an annotated copy of the Iliad , which reportedly became one of Alexander's most prized possessions. Scholars speculate that two of Aristotle's now lost works, On kingship and On behalf of
13746-436: The Latin flos , “a flower.” To contrast the term with a plant's lack of full development, “flourish” came to indicate growth or development with vigor. Around 1597, the term came to include the notion of prosperity, insofar as a to bear flowers is an indication of the fullness of life and productivity. As an obvious consequence of the widespread use of the term "flourishing" in different fields and by different authors, there
13904-617: The Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand, flourishing ...is a state where people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, most of the time. In more philosophical terms this means access to the pleasant life, the engaged or good life and the meaningful life [...] It requires the development of attributes and social and personal levels that exhibit character strengths and virtues that are commonly agreed across different cultures (Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson, 2005). On
14062-771: The Persians, and philosophical questions, like the definition of braveness. A widespread speculation in antiquity suggested that Aristotle played a role in Alexander's death, but the only evidence of this is an unlikely claim made some six years after the death. Following Alexander's death, anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens was rekindled. In 322 BC, Demophilus and Eurymedon the Hierophant reportedly denounced Aristotle for impiety, prompting him to flee to his mother's family estate in Chalcis, Euboea , at which occasion he
14220-527: The Soul ( peri psychēs ), posits three kinds of soul ("psyches"): the vegetative soul, the sensitive soul, and the rational soul. Humans have all three. The vegetative soul is concerned with growth and nourishment. The sensitive soul experiences sensations and movement. The unique part of the human, rational soul is its ability to receive forms of other things and to compare them using the nous (intellect) and logos (reason). Happiness Happiness
14378-440: The Soul and Poetics . Aristotle studied and made significant contributions to "logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance, and theatre." While Alexander deeply admired Aristotle, near the end of his life, the two men became estranged having diverging opinions over issues, like the optimal administration of city-states, the treatment of conquered populations, such as
14536-492: The Vulgate 9th vers, in which it is said, in particular, that refloruit caro mea (lit.: my flesh reflowered). In spite of this mainly metaphorical use of “flourishing” language, Aquinas deals widely with the notion nowadays expressed by “flourishing”. The terms he employs in this context are felicitas (happiness) and beatitudo (beatitude, blessedness). In previous Christian Latin authors, as Boethius , felicitas
14694-1353: The absence of mental illness." Barbara Fredrickson developed the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. According to Fredrickson there is a wide variety of positive effects that positive emotions and experiences have on human lives. Fredrickson notes two characteristics of positive emotions that differ from negative emotions: Previous theories of emotion stated that all emotions are associated with urges to act in particular ways, called action-tendencies. According to Fredrickson, most positive emotions do not follow this model of action-tendencies, since they do not usually occur in life-threatening circumstances and thus do not generally elicit specific urges. Fredrickson proposes that instead of one general theory of emotions, psychologists should develop theories for each emotion or for subsets of emotions. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions proposed by Fredrickson states that while negative emotions narrow thought-action tendencies to time tested strategies as handed down by evolution, positive emotions broaden thought-action repertoires. Positive emotions often cause people to discard time-tested or automatic action tendencies and pursue novel, creative, and often unscripted courses of thought and action. These positive emotions and thought-action repertoires can be seen as applicable to
14852-576: The attainment of immortality, based on the idea a person can emulate the eternal dao by never exhausting one's qi (vital energy), is particularly emphasized. Or in other later Daoist religious dispensations, like that of the Way of the Celestial Masters, the religious worship of a sage, seen as able to intercede with Heaven (in this example Laozi ), is stressed. But in ancient Daoist philosophers these aspects are absent, or not so relevant. For them,
15010-494: The ball along to make it continue to rise even though the hand is no longer acting on it, resulting in the Medieval theory of impetus . Aristotle suggested that the reason for anything coming about can be attributed to four different types of simultaneously active factors. His term aitia is traditionally translated as "cause", but it does not always refer to temporal sequence; it might be better translated as "explanation", but
15168-399: The becoming is for the sake of the end; and the actuality is the end, and it is for the sake of this that the potentiality is acquired. For animals do not see in order that they may have sight, but they have sight that they may see. In summary, the matter used to make a house has potentiality to be a house and both the activity of building and the form of the final house are actualities, which
15326-574: The broad sense coextensive with reasoning, which he also would describe as "science". However, his use of the term science carries a different meaning than that covered by the term "scientific method". For Aristotle, "all science ( dianoia ) is either practical, poetical or theoretical" ( Metaphysics 1025b25). His practical science includes ethics and politics; his poetical science means the study of fine arts including poetry; his theoretical science covers physics, mathematics and metaphysics. In his On Generation and Corruption , Aristotle related each of
15484-402: The capacity to bear fruit or the capacity to grow are within a tree's natural potential. On the other hand, the common good is some good—whether material or non-material—that has four characteristics: it is specific , in the sense that it is not general good-in-itself; it is objective , that is, it exists outside of the individual and is independent from the existence of any particular person; it
15642-433: The cause of earthquakes was a gas or vapor ( anathymiaseis ) that was trapped inside the earth and trying to escape, following other Greek authors Anaxagoras , Empedocles and Democritus . Aristotle also made many observations about the hydrologic cycle. For example, he made some of the earliest observations about desalination: he observed early – and correctly – that when seawater is heated, freshwater evaporates and that
15800-424: The common findings. The author found an important factor that has affected scientist findings this being how happiness is measured. For example, in certain studies when subjective wellbeing is measured as a trait heredity is found to be higher, about 70 to 90 percent. In another study, 11,500 unrelated genotypes were studied, and the conclusion was the heritability was only 12 to 18 percent. Overall, this article found
15958-407: The common percent of heredity was about 20 to 50 percent. Theories on how to achieve happiness include "encountering unexpected positive events", "seeing a significant other", and "basking in the acceptance and praise of others". Some others believe that happiness is not solely derived from external, momentary pleasures. Research on positive psychology, well-being, eudaimonia and happiness, and
16116-410: The composite natural ones, the study of nature would be the primary kind of knowledge; but if there is some motionless independent thing, the knowledge of this precedes it and is first philosophy, and it is universal in just this way , because it is first. And it belongs to this sort of philosophy to study being as being, both what it is and what belongs to it just by virtue of being. Aristotle examines
16274-592: The concept of flourishing because flourishing children and adults have a much wider array of cognitive, physical, and social possibilities, which results in the empirical and actual successes of a flourishing life. The concept has also been used by Martin E.P. Seligman , the founder of positive psychology, in his 2011 publication Flourish . Seligman, usually considered the father of positive psychology , characterizes human flourishing as excellence in 5 fields: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement. Consequently, his model of human flourishing
16432-406: The concepts of substance ( ousia ) and essence ( to ti ên einai , "the what it was to be") in his Metaphysics (Book VII), and he concludes that a particular substance is a combination of both matter and form, a philosophical theory called hylomorphism . In Book VIII, he distinguishes the matter of the substance as the substratum , or the stuff of which it is composed. For example, the matter of
16590-420: The conditions are right. A "flourishing habit" consists in a meta-habit that underlies all other habit development, as well as the ongoing activity of flourishing. It is a habitual readiness to develop habits as needed, and to continue the activity of flourishing within various contexts. In this way, a habitual readiness to flourish and the ongoing activity of flourishing can be considered as the moral correlates to
16748-516: The connection and full development of moral virtues, so full human flourishing in this life, require charity. Therefore, it is only a gratuitous gift of God which allows humans to know and love Him in a supernatural way already in this life. But a perfect knowledge and love of God, that is perfect beatitudo or perfect human flourishing is possible only in the next life by divine grace. According to Aquinas, habits, especially properly human habits, acquired through voluntary repeated actions, constitute
16906-399: The data to come to the theory of evolution . Aristotle's writings can seem to modern readers close to implying evolution, but while Aristotle was aware that new mutations or hybridizations could occur, he saw these as rare accidents. For Aristotle, accidents, like heat waves in winter, must be considered distinct from natural causes. He was thus critical of Empedocles's materialist theory of
17064-477: The definitions above: Human flourishing is the ongoing fulfillment of human capacities within given contexts by advancing one's own good and the common good. In order to better understand this synthesis, one has to keep in mind that, in the view of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas , a capacity of a being is a potential stemming from its nature to perform certain kinds of activities, or to undergo certain kinds of changes in accordance with its inner dynamism. For instance,
17222-427: The degree of happiness depends on economic and cultural factors that enable free choice in how people live their lives. Happiness also depends on religion in countries where free choice is constrained. Sigmund Freud said that all humans strive after happiness, but that the possibilities of achieving it are restricted because we "are so made that we can derive intense enjoyment only from a contrast and very little from
17380-455: The details of Aristotle's life are not well-established. The biographies written in ancient times are often speculative and historians only agree on a few salient points. Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira , Chalcidice , about 55 km (34 miles) east of modern-day Thessaloniki . He was the son of Nicomachus , the personal physician of King Amyntas of Macedon , and Phaestis,
17538-594: The development of flora and fauna, seen especially in his work Generation of Animals , provided a scientific background for recognizing a similar development in the human being. Aristotle's term for the optimal state of the human being is eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαίμονία ). He gives various definitions and descriptions of eudaimonia , in the Nicomachean Ethics , the Eudemian Ethics , and in his Politics , among which: Sometimes eudaimonia
17696-446: The distinction between joy and happiness is that "joy accompanies the process through and through, whereas happiness seems to be more strictly tied to the moment of achievement of the process... joy is not only a direct emotional response to an event that is embedded in our life-concerns but is also tightly bound to the present moment, whereas happiness presupposes an evaluative stance concerning one period of one's life or one's own life as
17854-491: The earliest study of formal logic, and his conception of it was the dominant form of Western logic until 19th-century advances in mathematical logic . Kant stated in the Critique of Pure Reason that with Aristotle, logic reached its completion. Most of Aristotle's work is probably not in its original form, because it was most likely edited by students and later lecturers. The logical works of Aristotle were compiled into
18012-499: The environment, autonomy refers to a person's flexibility in choice and decision making, and relatedness is the need to establish warm, close personal relationships. Ronald Inglehart has traced cross-national differences in the level of happiness based on data from the World Values Survey . He finds that the extent to which a society allows free choice has a major impact on happiness. When basic needs are satisfied,
18170-457: The face of adversity. The pursuit of happiness has been a central theme in philosophy and psychology for centuries. While there is no single, universally accepted definition of happiness, it is generally understood to be a state of mind characterized by positive emotions, a sense of purpose, and a feeling of fulfillment. "Happiness" is subject to debate on usage and meaning, and on possible differences in understanding by culture. The word
18328-442: The first century AD editor who assembled various small selections of Aristotle's works to create the treatise we know by the name Metaphysics . Aristotle called it "first philosophy", and distinguished it from mathematics and natural science (physics) as the contemplative ( theoretikē ) philosophy which is "theological" and studies the divine. He wrote in his Metaphysics (1026a16): If there were no other independent things besides
18486-460: The following definition of flourishing: To flourish is to find fulfillment in our lives, accomplishing meaningful and worthwhile tasks, and connecting with others at a deeper level—in essence, living the “good life” With the concept of flourishing, psychologists can study and measure fulfillment, purpose, meaning , and happiness . Flourishing can be measured through self-report measures. Individuals are asked to respond to structured scales measuring
18644-427: The following, quite different, definition: Flourishing itself might be understood as a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good. We might also refer to such a state as complete human well-being, which is again arguably a broader concept than psychological well-being. Conceptions of what constitutes flourishing will be numerous and views on the concept will differ. However, I would argue that, regardless of
18802-533: The following. Brood size decreases with (adult) body mass, so that an elephant has fewer young (usually just one) per brood than a mouse. Lifespan increases with gestation period , and also with body mass, so that elephants live longer than mice, have a longer period of gestation, and are heavier. As a final example, fecundity decreases with lifespan, so long-lived kinds like elephants have fewer young in total than short-lived kinds like mice. Aristotle distinguished about 500 species of animals , arranging these in
18960-416: The following: Psychologist Robert Emmons has identified the centrality of goals in pursuing happiness. He found that when humans pursue meaningful projects and activities without primarily focusing on happiness, happiness often results as a by-product. Indicators of meaningfulness predict positive effects on life, while lack of meaning predicts negative states such as psychological distress. Emmons summarizes
19118-531: The forms as existing separately from the things that participate in them, Aristotle maintained that universals exist within each thing on which each universal is predicated. So, according to Aristotle, the form of apple exists within each apple, rather than in the world of the forms. Concerning the nature of change ( kinesis ) and its causes, as he outlines in his Physics and On Generation and Corruption ( 319b–320a), he distinguishes coming-to-be ( genesis , also translated as 'generation') from: Coming-to-be
19276-635: The four categories of meaning which have appeared throughout various studies. He proposes to call them WIST, or work, intimacy, spirituality, and transcendence. Throughout life, one's views of happiness and what brings happiness can evolve. In early and emerging adulthood many people focus on seeking happiness through friends, objects, and money. Middle aged-adults generally transition from searching for object-based happiness to looking for happiness in money and relationships. In older adulthood, people tend to focus more on personal peace and lasting relationships (ex. children, spouse, grandchildren). Antti Kauppinen,
19434-515: The four elements proposed earlier by Empedocles , earth , water , air , and fire , to two of the four sensible qualities, hot, cold, wet, and dry. In the Empedoclean scheme, all matter was made of the four elements, in differing proportions. Aristotle's scheme added the heavenly aether , the divine substance of the heavenly spheres , stars and planets. Aristotle describes two kinds of motion: "violent" or "unnatural motion", such as that of
19592-464: The fruition or enjoyment of God, which is perfect only in Heaven. He identifies perfect beatitudo (perfect in relation to man, who is its subject, since fully perfect beatitude, according to Aquinas, belongs only to God, see, e.g., ST I-II, q. 3, a. 2, ad 4). There is also an imperfect beatitudo , which consists in the contemplation of God by natural reason is a participation of the perfect one and
19750-428: The ground, say) require more force to make them move; and objects pushed with greater force move faster. This would imply the equation incorrect in modern physics. Natural motion depends on the element concerned: the aether naturally moves in a circle around the heavens, while the 4 Empedoclean elements move vertically up (like fire, as is observed) or down (like earth) towards their natural resting places. In
19908-639: The head of the Lyceum, who in turn passed them down to Neleus of Scepsis in Asia Minor. There, the papers remained hidden for protection until they were purchased by the collector Apellicon . In the meantime, many copies of Aristotle's major works had already begun to circulate and be used in the Lyceum of Athens, Alexandria , and later in Rome . With the Prior Analytics , Aristotle is credited with
20066-410: The human being, and gives them the command: “Be fruitful and multiply,” with a greater specification: “fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” This indicates that human beings, from the beginning, were called to flourish so as to bear fruit, which is not only biological offspring, but also
20224-440: The image. According to Aristotle, spontaneity and chance are causes of some things, distinguishable from other types of cause such as simple necessity. Chance as an incidental cause lies in the realm of accidental things , "from what is spontaneous". There is also more a specific kind of chance, which Aristotle names "luck", that only applies to people's moral choices. In astronomy , Aristotle refuted Democritus 's claim that
20382-574: The increasingly widespread use of the term in business, economics, and politics. In positive psychology, flourishing is "when people experience positive emotions, positive psychological functioning and positive social functioning, most of the time," living "within an optimal range of human functioning." It is a descriptor and measure of positive mental health and overall life well-being, and includes multiple components and concepts, such as cultivating strengths , subjective well-being , "goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience." In this view, flourishing
20540-449: The interior principle for bearing life from plants: “And God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.’” The vegetation then responds to this divine initiative, which is recognized by God as good. A parallel act occurs with respect to animals, which are called to bear forth life “according to their kind.” Finally, God creates
20698-468: The modern zoologist would call vertebrates as the hotter "animals with blood", and below them the colder invertebrates as "animals without blood". Those with blood were divided into the live-bearing ( mammals ), and the egg-laying ( birds , reptiles , fish ). Those without blood were insects, crustacea (non-shelled – cephalopods, and shelled ) and the hard-shelled molluscs ( bivalves and gastropods ). He recognised that animals did not exactly fit into
20856-404: The oceans are then replenished by the cycle of rainfall and river runoff ("I have proved by experiment that salt water evaporated forms fresh and the vapor does not when it condenses condense into sea water again.") Aristotle was the first person to study biology systematically, and biology forms a large part of his writings. He spent two years observing and describing the zoology of Lesbos and
21014-442: The original sin, and, therefore, humans do not have the possibilities to fully use their natural powers and, therefore, they cannot fully flourish, not even on the natural level. Nevertheless, human nature is not totally corrupt; therefore, according to St. Thomas, it is still possible to naturally perform some good. Therefore, a full human natural flourishing, which requires the harmonious and excellent development of all moral virtues,
21172-547: The other hand languishing includes states of experience where people describe their lives as "hollow" or "empty" (Fredrickson & Lahoda, 2005). According to Keyes, mental health does not imply an absence of mental illness . Rather, mental health is a "separate dimension of positive feelings and functioning." Individuals described as flourishing have a combination of high levels of emotional well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being. Flourishing people are happy and satisfied; they tend to see their lives as having
21330-492: The particulars of different understandings, most would concur that flourishing, however conceived, would, at the very least, require doing or being well in the following five broad domains of human life: (i) happiness and life satisfaction; (ii) health, both mental and physical; (iii) meaning and purpose; (iv) character and virtue; and (v) close social relationships. All are arguably at least a part of what we mean by flourishing. [...]If, however, we think about flourishing not only as
21488-407: The poet Dante called him "the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Peter Abelard and Jean Buridan . Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics , although always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics . In general,
21646-503: The point that happiness judgements partly reflect the presence of salient constraints, and that fairness, autonomy, community and engagement are key aspects of happiness and wellbeing throughout the life course. Although these factors play a role in happiness, they do not all need to improve simultaneously to help one achieve an increase in happiness. Happiness has been found to be quite stable over time. As of 2016 , no evidence of happiness causing improved physical health has been found;
21804-467: The presence of positive affect , absence of negative affect, and perceived satisfaction with life. Participants are specifically asked about their emotions and feelings because scientists theorize that flourishing is something that manifests itself internally rather than externally. Keyes has operationalized symptoms of positive feelings and positive functioning in life by reviewing dimensions and scales of subjective well-being and, therefore, creating
21962-457: The request of Philip II of Macedon , tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum, which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls . Though Aristotle wrote many treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived , none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided
22120-433: The same certainty as experimental science, but it sets out testable hypotheses and constructs a narrative explanation of what is observed. In this sense, Aristotle's biology is scientific. From the data he collected and documented, Aristotle inferred quite a number of rules relating the life-history features of the live-bearing tetrapods (terrestrial placental mammals) that he studied. Among these correct predictions are
22278-508: The search for satisfaction than the search for happiness." Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II, noticed that those who lost hope soon died, while those who held to meaning and purpose tended to live on. Frankl observed that joy and misery had more to do with a person's perspective and choice than with their surroundings. Three key sources of meaning that he highlights in his writings include
22436-439: The seed of a plant in the soil is potentially ( dynamei ) a plant, and if it is not prevented by something, it will become a plant. Potentially, beings can either 'act' ( poiein ) or 'be acted upon' ( paschein ), which can be either innate or learned. For example, the eyes possess the potentiality of sight (innate – being acted upon), while the capability of playing the flute can be possessed by learning (exercise – acting). Actuality
22594-706: The sights one viewed at the Mysteries, "to experience is to learn" ( παθεĩν μαθεĩν ). Aristotle remained in Athens for nearly twenty years before leaving in 348/47 BC after Plato's death. The traditional story about his departure records that he was disappointed with the Academy's direction after control passed to Plato's nephew Speusippus , although it is possible that the anti-Macedonian sentiments in Athens could have also influenced his decision. Aristotle left with Xenocrates to Assos in Asia Minor , where he
22752-756: The study of more complex forms, namely, syllogisms (in the Analytics ) and dialectics (in the Topics and Sophistical Refutations ). The first three treatises form the core of the logical theory stricto sensu : the grammar of the language of logic and the correct rules of reasoning. The Rhetoric is not conventionally included, but it states that it relies on the Topics . What is today called Aristotelian logic with its types of syllogism (methods of logical argument), Aristotle himself would have labelled "analytics". The term "logic" he reserved to mean dialectics . The word "metaphysics" appears to have been coined by
22910-558: The surrounding seas, including in particular the Pyrrha lagoon in the centre of Lesbos. His data in History of Animals , Generation of Animals , Movement of Animals , and Parts of Animals are assembled from his own observations, statements given by people with specialized knowledge, such as beekeepers and fishermen, and less accurate accounts provided by travellers from overseas. His apparent emphasis on animals rather than plants
23068-653: The theories of Diener, Ryff, Keyes, and Seligmann covers a broad range of levels and topics, including "the biological, personal, relational, institutional, cultural, and global dimensions of life." The psychiatrist George Vaillant and the director of longitudinal Study of Adult Development at Harvard University Robert J. Waldinger found that those who were happiest and healthier reported strong interpersonal relationships. Research showed that adequate sleep contributes to well-being. Good mental health and good relationships contribute more to happiness than income does. In 2018, Laurie R. Santos course titled " Psychology and
23226-475: The time of Homer , and "the upheaving of one of the Aeolian islands , previous to a volcanic eruption ."' Meteorologica lends its name to the modern study of meteorology, but its modern usage diverges from the content of Aristotle's ancient treatise on meteors . The ancient Greeks did use the term for a range of atmospheric phenomena, but also for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Aristotle proposed that
23384-552: The topic is being researched at the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health . A positive relationship has been suggested between the volume of the brain's gray matter in the right precuneus area and one's subjective happiness score. Sonja Lyubomirsky has estimated that 50 percent of a given human's happiness level could be genetically determined, 10 percent
23542-478: The traditional rendering will be employed here. Aristotle describes experiments in optics using a camera obscura in Problems , book 15. The apparatus consisted of a dark chamber with a small aperture that let light in. With it, he saw that whatever shape he made the hole, the sun's image always remained circular. He also noted that increasing the distance between the aperture and the image surface magnified
23700-646: The wicked who commit idolatry do not live and flourish, but instead are like dead bits of straw. This imagery is also utilized by John the Baptist to describe the eschatological work of the Messiah, who will judge the wicked and consign them to everlasting burning: “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” As befitted his traditional education and upbringing, Jesus Christ utilized Hebrew flourishing imagery
23858-423: The word may vary depending on context, qualifying happiness as a polyseme and a fuzzy concept . A further issue is when measurement is made; appraisal of a level of happiness at the time of the experience may be different from appraisal via memory at a later date. Some users accept these issues, but continue to use the word because of its convening power. German philosophy professor Michela Summa says that
24016-543: Was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath . His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences , philosophy , linguistics , economics , politics , psychology , and the arts . As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens , he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science . Little
24174-412: Was insufficient for the developmental stage he expected people to reach, for he drew upon (anti-)flourishing imagery in a parable about a tree that does not bear fruit, and will be cut down within a year if it continues to be barren. This was manifested in a miracle in which Christ saw a fig tree “and found nothing on it but leaves only,” and so cursed it, such that it “withered at once.” Thomas Aquinas ,
24332-413: Was invited by his former fellow student Hermias of Atarneus ; he stayed there for a few years and left around the time of Hermias' death. While at Assos, Aristotle and his colleague Theophrastus did extensive research in botany and marine biology , which they later continued at the near-by island of Lesbos . During this time, Aristotle married Pythias , Hermias's adoptive daughter and niece, and had
24490-798: Was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology , especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church . Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while
24648-523: Was said to have stated "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy" – a reference to Athens's trial and execution of Socrates . He died in Chalcis, Euboea of natural causes later that same year, having named his student Antipater as his chief executor and leaving a will in which he asked to be buried next to his wife. Aristotle left his works to Theophrastus, his successor as
24806-542: Was used to mean an earthly temporal good in opposition to beatitudo , the highest human good, attainable only in Heaven. Nevertheless, St. Thomas, probably influenced by Grosseteste ’s choice to translate Aristotle's eudaimonia in Latin as felicitas , and tended to use them as synonyms, though he more frequently used beatitudo , in order to mean the last end of human life, as it is explicit, for instance, in ST I-II, q. 2, a. 2, arg. 1; this end, for him, consists in
24964-588: Was widely disbelieved until the 19th century. He gives accurate descriptions of the four-chambered fore-stomachs of ruminants , and of the ovoviviparous embryological development of the hound shark . He notes that an animal's structure is well matched to function so birds like the heron (which live in marshes with soft mud and live by catching fish) have a long neck, long legs, and a sharp spear-like beak, whereas ducks that swim have short legs and webbed feet. Darwin , too, noted these sorts of differences between similar kinds of animal, but unlike Aristotle used
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