Kawamoto, R. (2022). Conceiving a Eudaimonistic Life in Democracy with a Reconsideration on Civic Education. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.14418/wes01.1.2516
This essay tackles the question of how to attain eudaimonia in a modern democratic society. Rather than simply considering it as of a personal interest, I also adapt a political perspective in understanding the question and examine whether politics and other social conditions affect individuals in envisioning the attainment of eudaimonia. Observing the interdependence between individual citizens and their society for their own flourishing, this paper points out to the importance of implementing civic education that would raise active participation in community building and cultivate a social environment which reflects the voices of wide population. By analyzing texts by Aristotle and other Aristotelian thinkers—Hannah Arendt and Danielle Allen, this paper discusses how civic education can be effective in community building in a democratic society and how the society can overcome obstacles in implementing civic education. Through these discussions, the paper tries to illuminate a political approach in promoting eudaimonia for both individual citizens and their society in contemporary democracy.