Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Eudaimonia

Semi-recently, I've familiarized myself with Plato's principles of Eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is, in a nutshell, the happiest point a person can attain, only possible through the fulfillment of his or her own potential. This can mean a few fundamental things;

I am not currently the happiest I can be. Is this because I am only on my personal journey, supposed to reach Eudaimonical enlightenment by the end of my life, or is it that I'm only happy in the short term satisfaction of my immediate goals. If the latter, my goals are in fact such;

-Get drunk frequently
-Play pool
-Spend time reminiscing with good friends

This makes me wonder heavily.

Am I or am I not fulfilling my potential?
I've always wanted to be a professional actor, but will the fulfillment of that specific goal make me Eudaimonically happy? I don't quite think so. I rather believe that writing and the recognition and discrepancies of those works will make me somehow travel towards my personal Eudaimonia. Things like those I say above as well as buying a new power supply and more ram for my computer would only enable the accomplishment of smaller steps towards that end.

Indeed, I hope they will.

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