What gives meaning to my life? What is the "good life"?

"The only alternative to coexistence is codestruction."
-Jawaharial Nehru

It seems that all aspects of Ethics that have been touched upon in this class so far impact everyone's lives in some way in a general sense. For my life specifically, I would say that the concept of relativism is influential. According to Simon Blackburn in Being Good, the idea of relativism is that "...there is no one truth... only the different truths of different communities" (19). With this being said, I feel that this contributes to my life through my study of religions in high school. I did not take a very in depth course on such a topic but it was incorporated within my global history class. This would be an adequate example as the existence of multiple religions shows that there clearly is not only one truth. If one were to compare Judaism with Buddhism, it would be made apparent that the people of these religious communities have their separate beliefs which they deem to be true. Also, it can not be proven that any one of these truths is, for certain, more correct than another which shows that there is only the different truths of these different communities. Such studies of different communities opens a person's eyes to see that not everyone may agree with your interpretations based on beliefs and experiences as the ultimate truth and that in order to maintain order in the world, a person must be willing to understand another's point of view. People do not have to change what they believe in necessarily, but they must understand that there are varying opinions.

I don't believe that an explanation of what "the good life" is can be easily put into words as again, everyone has their own personal interests, beliefs, and talents. However, I do feel that achieving the best possible form of existence that one can muster would involve determining where your talents lie and using them for the betterment of the world or at least to keep things functioning smoothly. Another aspect of this would involve taking into consideration one's own self-interest and the well-being of others. Thus the concept of egoism is involved within this interpretation. Overall, there should be a balance between the two as only you know how to take care of yourself in the best way possible but you should also be considerate of others. It would be best to acquire skills that not only give your life meaning in the sense that it gives you a way to spend your time but you should also try to use said skills for possibly improving someone else's life in a way that they could not do so on their own. An example from my life pertaining to a way in which a skill can improve  another person's life is through music. From elementary school all the way through graduating from high school, I played the flute. When my school band would play, we often received complements as to how great we sounded and how impressive our performance was. In this case, my skill was used to improve someone's life, if only for a little while, by giving them something to enjoy and possibly take their mind off of their troubles. A musician can provide those that maybe do not have the natural talent to play an instrument the ability to experience music and a kind of feeling that nothing else can provide.

As a way to guide myself to living the best life that I can, I would like to live my life by principles that are a part of Kant's theory and the aspect of a Social Contract. As established in the article "Self-Interest," Kant's theory involves acting morally towards others (Salazar). I believe that a sense of morality should be applied to your actions especially those that directly involve other people. An example from my life that would fit this theory would be that of a beginner's level for sports teams, specifically, field hockey. In middle school I joined my school's field hockey team and at this level every participant was treated with equal worth for the most part and played about the same amount of time during games. Therefore, each person received the same amount of respect and recognition for their efforts. With the concept of a Social Contract, it is understood that humans frequently interact with others and that in order for an individual to thrive, the group through which they are associated must thrive as well (Salazar). This has been exemplified in my life through my ties with my family. If my family is doing well financially, then I am able to personally succeed and do more of what I want to do. However, if something is not going too well back home, it may cause me some struggle in my endeavors.