Book SummaryThe Master Guides: What Makes a Good Life?, by Shortform

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Master Guides: What Makes a Good Life?

In our complicated world, we’re bombarded with messages about how we should live our lives. But is there a single “best” or “right” way to live? Is that question even possible to answer? If so, what would a good life look like?

In our Master Guide to what makes a good life, we’ll examine different answers to these questions from six spiritual and philosophical works:

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• _[Nicomachean...

The Master Guides: What Makes a Good Life? Summary Perspective #1: A Good Life Is Aligned With Reason

The first perspective on what makes a good life involves living rationally—considering the options available to you, weighing their possible outcomes, and choosing the best option—rather than making moral decisions based on momentary whims, impulses, or intuitions.

Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius and ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle offer two different approaches to living a good, rational life:

1) Choose Reason Over Emotion

Marcus Aurelius (Meditations) believes a good, rational life is lived strictly according to reason and nothing else. He explains that the universe itself functions according to reason alone—that is, rules and systems work in harmony to ensure that whatever is supposed to happen, happens. Therefore, by living in alignment with reason, you become in harmony with the universe and your role in it. This makes you not only morally good but also good at the “job” of existing as a human being.

To Harmonize With the Universe, Eliminate Negative Emotion

To be fully in harmony with the...

The Master Guides: What Makes a Good Life? Summary Perspective #2: A Good Life Is Dedicated to Something Greater

The second perspective on a good life emphasizes dedication to a project, concept, or ideal larger than yourself as an individual. This understanding of a good life is based less on your internal development—improving and following your reasoning skills, for example—and more on your interactions with the external world.

In this section, we’ll explore two versions of this philosophical perspective: living a good life by dedicating yourself to society and living a good life by dedicating yourself to the universe.

Dedicate Yourself to Society

Many philosophers believe that, to live a good life, you must dedicate yourself to the larger project of contributing to and improving your society. In the Analects, ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius says you can do this by respecting your superiors and fulfilling your obligations to family and community.

With family, this means respecting and obeying your elders and putting duties and responsibilities to family before anything else. Confucius emphasizes the...

The Master Guides: What Makes a Good Life? Summary Perspective #3: There _Is_ No Good Life

Unlike the previous philosophers discussed, some authors argue that you shouldn’t worry about living a good life at all—they either believe a good life doesn’t exist, or believe it’s impossible to know what a good life is. These authors believe the best way to live is by rejecting any fixed standard of “good” or “bad.”

19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and 20th-century French author Albert Camus offer two different perspectives on why you shouldn’t pursue goodness and how you should live instead:

Goodness Doesn’t Exist

Nietzsche (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) argues there’s no universal standard of a “good” life. To him, morality is all relative—what’s good to one person might be evil to another, and it’s impossible to get around this. Nietzsche argues that, rather than worrying about morality, the best people contribute the most to the evolution of mankind.

In his argument, Nietzsche...

Shortform Exercise: Consider Your Good Life

Reflect on the different ways of living a good life suggested by the authors and how you’d like to live your own life.

Do you try to live according to reason, making logical choices whenever possible? If not, do you believe this is a worthy goal? Why or why not?