Motivation and emotion/Book/2020/Eudaimonia

Overview
The question of what a "good" life consists of and how one may achieve it has almost certainly been on people's minds since human societies were first in a secure enough position to think so far ahead. It is a question that the vast majority of us consider at some point in our lives; what does "success" mean to me? What makes a good life? Am I living as fully as I could be? What can I do to ensure that I'm proud of the life I led when I'm at the end of it? There are many different philosophical schools of thought that address this concern, proposing their ideas about what constitutes a worthwhile existence. One such concept is Aristotle's eudaimonia.

Focus questions:
 * What is eudaimonia?
 * Why is it a valuable concept?
 * How can eudaimonia be developed?

What is eudaimonia and why is the concept useful?
Eudaimonia can be translated to "human flourishing" (add source), and is considered the epitome of wellness - true fulfillment.

Aristotle referred to eudaimonia as, "[the] highest of all goods achievable by human action" (Ryff & Singer, 2006, p. 14).


 * Etymologyː Greek - "eu"ː good, "daimon"ː spirit (add source)

History
Aristotle, Greek philosophy (Stoicism)

Happiness and hedonism
Qualitatively different from eudaimonia (Waterman, 1993).

Define hedonism

See Figure 1.

Theoretical frameworks and approaches
There are a few major theories/approaches that apply well to the research and discussion of eudaimonia.

Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2006)
Autonomy, Competence, Relatedness

Add image

Psychological well-being model (Ryff & Singer, 2006)
Self acceptance, purpose in life, environmental mastery, positive relationships, personal growth, autonomy (Ryff & Singer, 2006, p. 20).

Add image

Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, self-actualization.

See Figure 2.

Figures
Important points about using figures:
 * 1) Figures can be used to illustrate concepts, add interest, and provide examples.
 * 2) Figures should be captioned (using APA style) in order to explain its relevance to the text.
 * 3) Possible images for use as figures can be found at Wikimedia Commons.
 * 4) Images can also be uploaded if they have appropriate licenses for re-use or if you created the image.
 * 5) Each figure should be referred to at least once in the main text (e.g., see Figure 1).

Tables
Important points about using tables:
 * 1) Tables can be an effective way to organise content.
 * 2) Tables should be captioned (using APA style) in order to explain its relevance to the text.
 * 3) Each table should be referred to at least once in the main text (e.g., see Table 1 and Table 2).

Here are two example tables which could be adapted:

Table 1.

Example of a Table with an APA Style Caption

Table 2.

Another Example of a Table with an APA Style Caption

Feature boxes
Important points about using feature boxes:
 * 1) Feature boxes can be used to highlight content.
 * 2) Possible uses for feature boxes include:
 * 3) Focus questions
 * 4) Case studies or examples
 * 5) Take-home messages
 * 6) There are many different ways of creating feature boxes (e.g., see Pretty boxes)


 * Feature box example
 * 1) Shaded background
 * 2) Coloured border

Quiz questions
Important points about using quizzes:
 * 1) Quiz questions can be used to help make a chapter more interactive.
 * 2) To learn about different types of quiz questions, see Help:Quiz.
 * 3) Rather than presenting one longer quiz at the end, consider adding, say, one review quiz question per major section.
 * 4) Try to assess conceptual knowledge, rather than trivia.

Here are some simple example quiz questions:

Choose the correct answers and click "Submit": {Approximately how many neurons are in the human brain? - 1,000,000 (1 million) - 10,000,000 (10 million) - 100,000,000 (100 million) - 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) + 10,000,000,000 (10 billion)
 * type=""}

{A typical neuron fires ________ per second. - 1 to 4 + 5 to 49 - 50 to 99 - 100 to 199 - 200 to 499
 * type=""}

How can eudaimonia be achieved?

 * Courage, presence/mindfulness, integrity, self-trust, ambition (being virtuous, considering excess & deficiency - Aristotle and Stoics)
 * Intimacy and healthy, meaningful relationships with others
 * Disparity between Stoics and Aristotle about what they considered necessary vs a bonus (eg good health)

Conclusion
Important points about this section:
 * 1) This is arguably the most important section.
 * 2) What is the answer to the question in the sub-title (based on psychological theory and research)?
 * 3) What are the practical, take-home messages?

Eudaimonia is a form of well-being that emphasizes life purpose, meaning and future orientation. It shares similar - with satisfaction, happiness, flourishing, and resilience(?).

Central models and theories to it include self-determination theory, Ryff's psychological well-being model, Diener's ̈model of subjective well-being, and Seligman's concept of authentic happiness.

It can be developed through active focus on meaning (rather than outcome), engaging in experiences of flow, practicing a future orientation (rather than present or past), prosocial behaviour and community engagement.