The Good Life The good life can be described as many different things for many different people and often varies across cultures and generations. While the basic desires of a good life often include good health, wealth, and companionship, we all generally desire a few more personal desires. As we discussed in class and throughout the readings, each philosopher presented presented us with varying degrees of what they consider to be the good life and the means by which that good life can be achieved. Although every philosopher has certain appealing aspects to their argument, I felt that Ralph Waldo Emerson's idea of ​​the good life best fit the desires and beliefs I previously had about life. It is particularly easy, in our current society, to fall into the trap. To begin with, our society places an emphasis on helping those who are considered inferior to us with things like charity and the like. But as has been brought to my attention, we only give these charities excuses that we believe for living in this world. We are taught that because we are “more blessed” than others, we must give back and help them. But the fact is that we only do it to gain reassurance from others and because we feel a sense of guilt for being better off than others. Society must let individuals determine for themselves what they choose to do, free from pressure from others. We are constantly worried about what others think of us and we find ourselves trapped in self-absorption, which is a cause of unhappiness, according to Emerson. As a society we must also encourage individuality and creativity and not punish those who defy the normal. Conformity in today's society is far more prevalent than individuality and this is proving detrimental to the progress of our people. We must emphasize discovering your true self while discouraging conformity and focusing on inner behaviors and