Self-Fulfillment as the End Good: Ortega y Gasset, Maslow, Marx and Plato.
Throughout history philosophers from around the world have taken up the challenge of interpreting life and the transcendental aspects that it involves. Commonly mentioned among these different concerns are themes like, structure of the universe, the existence of the soul, forms of government and the pursuit of a good life. Defining what a good life would be and how would one go about of achieving such a life has been a concern for many philosophers. Here we reach a point where a wide array of radically different answers are provided by philosophers as to what is the good life or complete life. For Plato, the good life was that in which through rational analysis and thought an individual dedicated his life to observing and understanding the highest principle, which he called "the Good". While for Diogenes, a simple life where one enjoyed the simple pleasures that the earth had to offer, was the best life.
As I attempted to define the good life I found that I was in accordance with Aristotle who believed that the good life was a happy life and that happiness was the end purpose of a good life. However, true happiness, as I see it, is not a term that can be loosely used to describe a life where an individual has large material possessions, fancy cars, and a big fat bank account. No, happiness goes a lot farther than the shallowness of material goods. I believe that the key element in obtaining true happiness is developing as an individual to your fullest capacity. By this I mean developing yourself in a way that you do all that is in your power to be the best you can be and more. It also means developing to the fullest your mental, rational capacity, creating a set of values to which you are consistent throughout life and consciously understand their reason for being (truly knowing yourself and understanding your beliefs) and giving rational thought to higher principles of life.
(Rose Gallo 39). ... Bruccoli pointed out that "in Gatsby's name the pun on gat, the slang term for pistol is obvious- (208) and the "old sport- saying Gatsby uses was taken from an acquaintance of Fitzgerald, Max Geralch, an alleged bootlegger, who shot himself in 1939 (210). ...
