Explore what it means to live a good life with Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Nietzsche.
SERIES
The Good Life
MEET YOUR LECTURER
Chris Surprenant
I am a Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans, where I direct the UNO Honors Program and am Founding Director of the UNO Urban Entrepreneurship and Policy Institute, formerly the Alexis de Tocqueville Project.
Episodes
EPISODE ONE
Plato
Chris Surprenant discusses the account of human well-being and the good life presented by Socrates in Plato’s dialogues. He explains why Socrates closely connects his account of the good life with justice, a concept understood not just as a political arrangement but also as a state of a well-ordered individual’s soul.
EPISODE TWO
Aristotle
Chris Surprenant discusses the account of human well-being and the good life presented by Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics and Politics. He explains why Aristotle believes that a human being lives well when he acts rightly and possesses all virtues, both intellectual and those relating to good character.
EPISODE THREE
Kant
In this Wireless Philosophy video, Chris Surprenant discusses the account of human well-being and the good life presented by Immanuel Kant in his moral, political, and religious writings. He explains why Kant believes that the highest good for a human being is the conjunction of happiness and complete virtue and how it is possible for an individual to attain these two things at the same time.
EPISODE FOUR
Nietzsche
In this Wireless Philosophy video, Chris Surprenant (University of New Orleans) discusses the account of human well-being and the good life presented by Friedrich Nietzsche in his moral, political, and religious writings. He explains why Neitzsche believes that living a full human life requires rational reflection and taking a cautious attitude toward conventional moral categories. JP Messina (UC San Diego) assisted in the production of content for this video.
