Annual Philosophy Lecture 2023 - The Good Life in Ancient and Current Philosophy

The Good Life in Ancient and Current Philosophy - Professor Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek

Philosophers have always been occupied with a question of what a good human life consists of. Aristotle, Epicurus, Seneca – they all had their own answers. Aristotle concentrated on building a character in terms of virtues, Epicurus advised working on the relief of pain and mental disturbance, and Seneca wanted us to free ourselves from passions. Nowadays positive psychology is more interested than ever before in the issue of happiness and fulfillment. The question thus arises: What can we learn from past masters? How can modern philosophy, psychology and science help us to develop ancient wisdom? We will look at the matter from three different perspectives: virtue ethics, hedonism and stoicism and debate  common suggestions on how a good life can be reached from the three ancient voices.

The Speaker

Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek is a Polish utilitarian philosopher and a Professor at the University of Lodz. She has published articles in Polish and English on utilitarianism, bio-ethics, philosophy for children and works on well-being, happiness and pleasure. With Peter Singer, she is the co-author on three publications: Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford series), The Point of View of the Universe: Sidgwick and Contempory Ethics and Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill.