Although I believe that Henry Brighouse makes interesting points about education and how it relates to life, I have to disagree with some of his statements about a "flourishing" life. In his book, Brighouse discusses the idea that one can have a flourishing life without being happy. I strongly disagree with this statement because I would not believe that my life is flourishing if I was not happy. Flourishing to me describes a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment with making progress toward a goal rather than just achieving something. I do not understand how someone can believe that they are flourishing if they are not happy in what they are doing. To me, this relates the idea of loving your job for the money vs. true happiness. Someone could be very successful in their career and advancing towards a promotion, but what does that truly mean if that person is not happy with what they are doing? How much does that person value their own individual happiness?
When I think about how this relates to education, I immediately jump to the grueling search for identity that many college students make as they decide on a major. For some, this merely comes down to deciding to enter a career field that will ensure them wealthy monetary means. This is especially relevant to education majors, who clearly do not enter the field of education for the money, but are ridiculed daily for "choosing a simple career." I mean think about how many jokes there are out there about education majors. "Those who can't do, teach" is the one that comes to my mind quickly, but the truth is, we are the ones who experience truly flourishing careers. Working with students everyday makes me realize that I am educating the future of the world. I may have the future President in my classroom or the next Nobel Peace Prize winner. What can be more flourishing than the opportunity to have a true purpose and identity with what I will do every day of my life.
Just for fun, I thought I would include a link to one of my favorite YouTube videos. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0fJKvdjQgs
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I agree with what you said about flourishing inducing happiness. I think the disagreement between you and Brighouse has more to do with your differing definitions of flourishing than anything else. My question is you ever feel like too much of your ability to educate the students is out of your hands. Funding, facilities, family support among other things all have such a greta impact on the success of a child, how do you overcome these obstacles when they are just that?
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