Group work on Orson Scott Card's "The Best Day"

Break up into small groups. Delegate one or more members of your group to (1) prepare a summary of your group's discussion and (2) make a list of your group's members

Discuss your answers to the following questions.

1. What are the two peddlers' basic philosophies of the good? You don't have to be formal and, e.g., characterize one of them as an axiological pluralist. What is important is that your characterization captures something important about their beliefs about what is good. What are the some of the advantages and disadvantages of their beliefs? Why do you think so?

2. Did the woman who kept living her best day have a good life? (Here, by "good life," I mean the kind of life you would want for yourself or for someone you loved.) Why or why not?

3. What do your group's answers to the first two questions suggest about what characterizes a good life?

4. Aristotle, saying, "one swallow does not make a spring, nor one fine day," argues that a human happiness, when found, is to be found in a complete life. What do you think he should mean by "complete." Why?

For Philosophy 210, Moral Philosophy, Le Moyne College, Prof. Michael Kagan, minor edits Nov. 1, 2017. Revised Oct. 17, 2019.


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