DAY 65 May 13 A Good Life

Step 1: Back to the card game of fun and five minutes of interesting discussion!

Step 2: For the written record now . . . let's make a clear distinction between Ethics and Morals.

Ethics can generally be described throughout humanity as the Golden Rule.  In all cultures going back through history, as far as we know we have always adhered to the principle that we should treat other people no differently than the way we would like to be treated.

Morals on the other hand can best be described as the practices, principles and teachings of right or wrong behaviour - these change across time, generations, cultures and they can change based on experience.

Philosophers ask questions like these when thinking about Ethics and Morals:

1. What is a good life?

2. What is a good person?

3. What is the right thing to do?

In your Green Philosophy Bites folder please spend 2 minutes on each of the questions above, but answer them as if you were once again FIVE YEARS OLD.

Here's an example of an issue you might face sometime soon - "Lawyers".

Step 3: Now we'll spend a little time figuring out what you think today.  One of the main questions of Philosophy is, "What is the life worth living?".  Let's list your answers below (by the way, that question is what Socrates taught Plato as the most basic Philosophical question, so we're in good company here!):

Your answers will go here . . . . 
Love
Success
Fulfilment
Pleasure
Happiness
Experience
Career
Compassion
Fun
Companionship
No regrets


Step 4: Chapter 13.  Your task now is to explain the 11 major schools of thoughts on the question of living a good life.  For each (Buddhism, Confucianism, Hedonism, Stoicism, Virtue Ethics, Thomists, Existentialism, Divine Command Theory, Utilitarianism, Egoism, Intuitionism, Post-modernism) school of thought make an organizer in your notes with the sub-headings below. At first you can each have a go at one of these schools of thought on chart paper and share it with the class, then tackle them all on your own for your notebook.

• School of Thought
•  Brief History
•  Main proponents
•  Summary of  the School's Response
•  Strengths of the Response
• Weaknesses of the Response