How to Live a Good Life summary

We just learned that Buddhism isn’t about you as an individual. It takes an outward-looking view instead. But in doing so, does it lose focus on the reality of life?

Some followers of Confucius have claimed it does. For them, not thinking about oneself is like closing your eyes so you can’t see your nose. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

The East wasn’t the only place in the ancient world where multiple philosophies developed. The ancient Greek and Roman philosophers put forth their own views on how to live a good life. One such view is Aristotelianism.

An Aristotelian is someone who follows Aristotle’s teachings from his famous work, Nicomachean Ethics. It’s a philosophy that is realistic and honest, as author Kaufman argues.

Two more contrasting philosophies emerged from the Classical world – Stoicism in Greece and Epicureanism in Rome.

Zeno of Citium established Stoicism in Athens around 300 BCE. Stoicism dictates that humans should lead moral lives characterized by four virtues: practical wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance.

So far, we’ve looked at philosophical schools that don’t have any gods, although one of them – Buddhism – is, in fact, classified as a religion. But of course, theistic religions provide plenty of wisdom on how to live a good life.

Although Hinduism boasts many gods, living a good life predominantly relates to the concept of karma – the idea that good or bad things may happen to you depending on how you, or your past self, have acted.

Interpreting ancient scripture in a modern context is a challenge faced not just by Islam, but also by Judaism and Christianity. And similarly, these two religions encourage the idea that our interpretation of sacred texts can vary.

Rabbi Barbara Block, for instance, acknowledges that the Hebrew Bible isn’t a work of philosophy. Rather, it’s something that has been interpreted in many different ways throughout history. And this variety of interpretations gives Judaism its wonderful complexity.

Currently, traditional religion is not as dominant as it once was. Some alternative philosophies have emerged that acknowledge some of the benefits of religion, without sharing their belief in any god.

The key message here is: Ethical Culture and secular humanism are two philosophies that don’t involve belief in God.

Did you choose to be born? No? Neither did anyone else.

That’s the starting point for existentialism, the twentieth-century philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Having been born, we are conscious and free to make our own choices. Hence, in Sartre’s words, we are “condemned to be free.”

One recent philosophy shines the spotlight directly onto the question of how to do the most good.

Effective altruism takes a simple approach. It asks its followers to examine how they can maximize their positive impact on the world. In many cases, this is through donating as much as possible to charity. Or it might be through taking on jobs that do exceptional amounts of good.