Read together · one page · 30 minutes

What is a good life?

For two people. Read aloud or silently. Each person may pass on any question, without giving a reason. There is no score, account, saved answer, or next step.

1. 0–7 minutes · the chapter

   Read “What is a good life?” Before discussing it, each choose the account you feel most drawn toward and the one you find hardest to accept.

2. 7–14 minutes · primary text one

   Read Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Book I, sections 7–8. What belongs inside Aristotle’s picture of flourishing besides virtue? Which part depends on circumstances a person cannot choose?

3. 14–20 minutes · primary text two

   Read Epictetus’s Enchiridion, sections 1 and 5. What does this account place within a person’s control? What might it help someone endure, and what might it fail to name?

4. 20–27 minutes · matched exchange

   First readingMake the strongest case that virtue can be enough for a good life, even when luck removes health, status, or comfort. Point to one passage in Epictetus.

   Second readingMake the strongest case that a good life also needs friendship, material sufficiency, or favorable circumstances. Point to one passage in Aristotle.

   Switch readings after three minutes. Describe the other account fairly before returning to your own.

5. 27–30 minutes · close

   Where does your answer depend on your life?

   Each name one experience that makes one account easier to believe, and one fact or perspective that could change your mind. Then stop.