Anna Williams
Dr. Clothier
Senior Capstone Annotated Sources
7 February 2014
The “Good Life” in our Culture: A List of Annotated Sources
Dallmayr, Fred. In Search of the Good Life: A Pedagogy for Troubled Times. Lexington,
Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. 2007.
This book talks about many great philosophers and their search for the “good life”. It is believed that the world’s great thinkers searched for a higher purpose in life. Their conclusion is that living the “good life” is the point of human existence. Dallmayr finds connections between Aristotle’s beliefs and some of the beliefs of many Eastern religions and traditions. He also deeply discusses the role of education and religion in our culture. Dallmayr argues that people need to stop taking part in shallow unfulfilling amusement in their lives.
This book is a very good source for this capstone project because it provides new insight and ideas about when the great thinkers of the world were looking into the same question of “what is the good life?” The information is reliable and philosopher Dallmayr seems very insightful with the many connections he makes regarding this topic. It does not appear that the source is biased, for Dallmayr studies so many different religions, people, and traditions before drawing upon his conclusions.
This source is quite relevant to my research of culturally discovering the good life. It also made me start thinking about the research I can do on the great thinkers of our world because it is clear that they had many enlightenments about what the “good life” truly consists of. This source will help me compare not just lives of people in different cultures, but to also compare their beliefs, religions, and traditions.
Fischer, Edward. The Good Life: Aspiration, Dignity, and the Anthropology of Wellbeing.
Department of Anthropology: Vanderbilt University. Sep 2013
This book shows one man’s exploration of the decisions that people make (decisions based on individual cultural values and beliefs), which lead them to be living the “good life”. Fischer explores these values in people’s decisions, and finds that they are far beyond those of purely self-interest, and the decisions are motivated by specific conceptions of the good life. Fischer explores practices and beliefs through different cultures that develop wellbeing. He writes about experiences in Germany and Guatemala (complete opposite cultural experiences) and the non-material values that take up those peoples’ daily lives.
This is a very good source for this capstone project because it discusses very real life situations of very different cultures that are just trying to pursue a good life. This source is certainly more interesting to read than other sources because there are so many interesting stories in it that make me want to learn and understand more about that particular culture. Because Fischer actually traveled to the places he is writing about, it appears that he is very well informed on his subject.
Reading about the cultures that Fischer discusses will help me make conclusions about the specific culture I will be studying. While I haven’t decided if I will be studying the “good life” in only the United States or in all Western countries, Fischer’s book will remind me of all the different aspects of a good life that I will need to evaluate in my project.
Pers, J. What Constitutes a Good Life? Cultural Differences in the Role of Positive and
Negative Affect in Subjective Well-Being. NIH Public Access Manuscrips. Aug 2009.
This manuscript takes a close look at the cultural differences in living a good life. In particular, it discusses three studies done that compare and contrast the Western and Eastern cultures. It really discusses the how the presence of positive affect or lack of negative affect plays into whether a memory is good or bad. The manuscript looks into how do culture norms and standards affect judgement and theories of a good life. The first study looks at what makes a vacation “good” and whether positive affect or lack of negative affect makes the vacation memorable. The second study does a cross-cultural examination of the subjects personal friendship and their satisfaction. Finally, the third study looks at some of the positive and negative events in the subjects lifetimes (comparing Eastern vs. Western), and how the meanings of these events play into these people’s life satisfaction.
The manuscript is clearly written and quite interesting. This will be a good source for the capstone, especially if the project takes on a cultural aspect. It appears to be a perfectly reliable source, as it comes from the National Institute of Health. The sample taken seems to be random, and the way the data was collected appears to be well thought out; therefore, it does not appear that there is bias within these studies.
Since I am researching what it means to have a “good life” culturally, this source seems to be a quite relevant place to start. It is quite interesting in the aspects that it studies, and it does a fine job of comparing the Eastern and Western cultures. This source has made me start to wonder if I should study the “good life” for the United States alone, or include all Western countries in my research.
Soupios, M.A. The Ten Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on
Living the Good Life. Hampton Roads Publishing. April 10, 2009.
This book looks into the philosophies of the great Greek thinkers, and from that, Soupios creates a list of the ten most important rules to live one’s life by. This book has condensed a great amount of wisdom into very memorable and simple life rules. The book is filled with stories and explanations for why each rule exists. Some of the rules things such as: examine life, worry about things only under your control, and experience true pleasure. Soupios does a very good job of explaining exactly why each of the rules is essential to one’s life.
This is a high quality source that will be very helpful for my capstone. Personally, I believe that this list of rules would be very helpful for someone who seems lost in their life. The book is written in a very clear manner with each chapter consisting of one rule and the explanation behind it. This source and its information seems very reliable, and the author sounds well informed. Overall, its very interesting and relevant to my capstone.
After evaluating this source, I think it will be very helpful when writing my capstone. It really helps me to see what exactly people struggle with most often in their lives. The only thing about this book is that it is not very culturally focused, and I am going to try to focus on what in our culture makes up the good life. However, that doesn’t mean its not a helpful source because all of the rules in the book successfully relate to our culture. The source has made me realize that maybe the way to have a good life is by following very simple rules and beliefs, maybe its not complicated at all.
What Does it Mean to Live the "Good Life"? 