Having learned about several competing theories about what it takes for human beings to flourish, we turn to obstacles that prevent us from flourishing. There are many things that prevent this from happening (whichever analysis of flourishing of well-being that you accept). Today we’ll look at some common reasons why human beings might failure to flourish. We’ll discuss things like moral luck, the desire for domination (for perpetrators and victims), human duplicity, self-deception, and indifference to the demands of love (sometimes called “sloth”), and other “capital vices.” By the end of class, you will:
1. Be able to understand several reasons for why human beings sometimes fail to flourish.
2. Be able to appreciate ‘secular’ and ‘religious’ contributions to theories of human failure.
3. Be able to identify specific examples from your own life that relate to “fallenness and flourishing.”
Consider the following questions, write your responses in your journal, and talk about them with a friend:
1. Hudson reports that many human beings deceive themselves about whether they are happy. He offers some reasons for this self-deception. How could you figure out whether you are deceiving yourself about you happiness or flourishing?
2. What strategies might there be for addressing various causes of failing to flourish? How might ‘secular’ strategies help? How might ‘religious’ strategies help?
3. Do you know anyone is actually flourishing? What overall evidence do you have to support this judgement?