eudaemonism

eudaemonism
eudaemonism [yo͞o dē′mən iz΄əm]
n.
Gr eudaimonismos, a calling happy < eudaimonizein, to call happy < eudaimōn: see EUDAEMONIA
the ethical doctrine that personal happiness is the chief good and the proper aim of action, esp. such happiness conceived of in terms of well-being based on virtuous and rational self-realization: also eudemonism
eudaemonist
n., adj.
eudaemonistic
adj.

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eu·dae·mon·ism also eu·dai·mon·ism or eu·de·mon·ism (yo͞o-dēʹmə-nĭz'əm) n.
A system of ethics that evaluates actions in terms of their capacity to produce happiness.
  eu·daeʹmo·nist n. eu·dae'mon·isʹtic or eu·dae'mon·isʹti·cal adj.

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In ethics, the view that the ultimate justification of virtuous activity is happiness.

Virtuous activity may be conceived as a means to happiness, or well-being, or as partly constitutive of it (see teleological ethics). Ethical eudaemonism should be distinguished from psychological eudaemonism, which holds that happiness is the ultimate motive of virtuous activity.

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ethics
also spelled  Eudaimonism, or Eudemonism,  

      in ethics, a self-realization theory that makes happiness or personal well-being the chief good for man. The Greek word eudaimonia means literally “the state of having a good indwelling spirit, a good genius”; and “happiness” is not at all an adequate translation of this word. Happiness, indeed, is usually thought of as a state of mind that results from or accompanies some actions. But Aristotle's (Aristotle) answers to the question “What is eudaimonia?” (namely, that which is “activity in accordance with virtue”; or that which is “contemplation”) show that for him eudaimonia was not a state of mind consequent on or accompanying certain activities but is a name for these activities themselves. “What is eudaimonia?” is then the same question as “What are the best activities of which man is capable?”

      Later moralists, however—for instance, the 18th- and 19th-century British utilitarians Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill—defined happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain. Others, still regarding happiness as a state of mind, have tried to distinguish it from pleasure on the grounds that it is mental, not bodily; enduring, not transitory; and rational, not emotional. But these distinctions are open to question. A temporal dimension was added to eudaemonism in ancient times by Solon, who said, “Call no man happy till he is dead,” suggesting that happiness and its opposite pertain, in their broadest sense, to the full course of one's life. Contemporary moralists have tended to avoid the term.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • eudaemonism — [yo͞o dē′mən iz΄əm] n. [Gr eudaimonismos, a calling happy < eudaimonizein, to call happy < eudaimōn: see EUDAEMONIA] the ethical doctrine that personal happiness is the chief good and the proper aim of action, esp. such happiness conceived… …   English World dictionary

  • Eudaemonism — Eudemonism Eu*de mon*ism, Eudaemonism Eu*d[ae] mon*ism, n. [Gr. ? a thinking happy, fr, ? blessed with a good genius, happy; e y^ well, good + ? one s demon of genius. See {Demon}.] That system of ethics which defines and enforces moral… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • eudaemonism — or eudaimonism noun Etymology: Greek eudaimonia happiness, from eudaimōn having a good attendant spirit, happy, from eu + daimōn spirit more at demon Date: 1827 a theory that the highest ethical goal is happiness and personal well being •… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • eudaemonism — noun A philosophical notion, or system of ethics, which measures happiness in relation to morality. See Also: eudaemon, eudaemonia, eudaemonic …   Wiktionary

  • eudaemonism — ethical belief that happiness equals morality Philosophical Isms …   Phrontistery dictionary

  • eudaemonism — [ju: di:mənɪz(ə)m] (also eudemonism) noun a system of ethics that bases moral value on the likelihood of actions producing happiness. Derivatives eudaemonist noun eudaemonistic adjective Origin C19: from Gk eudaimonismos system of happiness ,… …   English new terms dictionary

  • eudaemonism — n.; (also eudemonism) Hedonism, utilitarianism, hedonistic or utilitarian philosophy, Epicureanism, Benthamism …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • eudaemonism — eu·dae·mon·ism …   English syllables

  • eudaemonism — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Eudaimonism — Eudaemonism is a philosophy that defines right action as that which leads to well being , thus holding well being as having essential value. The concept originates in Aristotle s Nicomachean Ethics . In Aristotle, eudaemonism means that all… …   Wikipedia

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