The good life The good life can be described as a multitude of different things for many different people and often varies within cultures and generations. While basic desires for a good life often include good health, wealth, and companionship, we usually all want something more, personal desires. As discussed in class and throughout the readings, each philosopher we were introduced to had varying degrees of what they consider the good life to be and the ways in which it can be achieved. While each philosopher had some interesting aspects to their argument, I felt that Ralph Waldo Emerson's idea of ​​the good life fit better with the desires and beliefs I previously had about life. It is particularly easy, in our current society, to fall into the category. For starters, our society places great emphasis on helping those who are considered inferior to us with things like charity and the like. But as I've been told, we really only give these charities the excuses we believe we live by 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 for the safety of others and because we feel a sense of guilt that we are better off than others. Society must let individuals decide for themselves what they choose to do, free from pressure from others. We are constantly worried about what others think of us and get trapped in self-centeredness, which causes unhappiness, according to Emerson. We as a society must also encourage individuality and creativity and not punish those who defy normality. In today's society, conformity is much more widespread than individuality and this is proving detrimental to the progress of our people. We must place emphasis on discovering your true self by discouraging conformity and focusing on internal behaviors and