Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Aristotle + Plato
Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Aristotle + Plato
Source: The Happiness Lab w/ Dr. Laurie Santos (Listen: 30 min)
Contributor: Selena Garcia
“how can you be happy was a fundamental question in ancient philosophy because they were thinking about what’s the appropriate relation between the individual and their society, and what’s the nature of beauty, and what’s the nature of truth?” - Tamar Gendler
Dr. Laurie Santos sits down with Tamar Gendler, Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at Yale University, to "explore some of the well-being concepts that the ancient philosophies and great religions got right. Old school tips that are born out by the science.” And ones that have personally helped Laurie in her quest to be happier.
Here are Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Aristotle and Plato.
Covered in two different podcasts (30 mins each), we’ll go back 2,500 years, but the insights and wisdom transcend time. They'll cover Aristotle's positive psychology and science of well-being, Plato's ideas for happiness and how to control the self, and so much more.
Take a seat. Class is in session!
“Aristotle was interested in a richer, and more robust, and more lasting notion of what happiness would be. Not just short-lived hedonistic pleasure, but long-lived thriving.” - Tamar Gendler
Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Aristotle (31 min)
(7:19) Tamar Gendler: "…Aristotle was interested in a richer, and more robust, and more lasting notion of what happiness would be. Not just short-lived hedonistic pleasure, but long-lived thriving. And he had a picture that there was a certain function for which human beings were ideally built."
(27:08) Tamar Gendler: “Pretty much everything that Aristotle instructs us to do is a part of my own attempt at self-improvement. The recognition that what I needed to do to change a bad habit was just to move a little bit towards a better version of it was an incredible relief to me as I found myself feeling overwhelmed by changes that I want to make. The idea that in order to become somebody who had virtues that I wanted, all I had to do was start acting as if I already had those virtues was unbelievably liberating and transformative for me.”
Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Plato (30 min)
(4:53) Tamar Gendler: "One of the things that's really interesting about ancient Greek philosophy is that they connected all sorts of topics that we think of as distinct from one another. So the question of 'how can you be happy?' was a fundamental question in ancient philosophy because they were thinking about what's the appropriate relation between the individual and their society, and what's the nature of beauty, and what's the nature of truth? And so Plato would be teaching all of those things. Everything from mathematics to metaphysics to political theory. But part of the reason for exploring that set of topics was so that you could understand how is it possible for an individual human being to flourish? How can they best align themselves so that they understand the nature of the world and are most receptive to the world's excellence?"
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