2013 Faith, Reason & World Affairs Symposium

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In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle makes the case that the most important activity in which humans can be engaged is eudaimonia. Translations vary, of course, but many agree that this term means wellbeing, happiness, or perhaps more precisely, human flourishing. Aristotle once described it as “doing and living well.” Happiness, in this sense, is an ongoing and morally rich pursuit, not to be confused with fleeting day-to-day happiness.

This symposium seeks to tease out what it means to be happy in the modern age. Several questions will be at the heart of the event, including:  What is happiness? How are human flourishing and vocation related? What is “the good life” and how can we live it? How can we encourage human flourishing—on our campus, and around the world? What cultural, structural, and institutional factors inhibit happiness? How can we balance “doing well” with “living well”? How can we make time for the pursuit of happiness in our increasingly busy lives?

This topic is relevant to all members of our campus, as we all figure out how we can best BREW, as our students discern vocation, as our faculty and staff struggle to balance their lives, and as we seek fulfillment, accomplishment, and joy during our short time on earth.

Let us join together to unravel what it means to live the good life.

Information For:

current students
faculty and staff		 parents
alumni		 high school students
admitted students