POCKET CLASS: Is a just life the good life?
How would you define a good life? Is it one filled with regular luxury holidays? Or one where you can afford a big house in the city or perhaps any house at all?
If you could travel back more than 2,000 years and ask the Greek philosopher Socrates, he’d give you a very different answer.
“Philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle saw [a good life] not just as comfort or success, but as living with purpose, seeking truth and staying true to yourself,” says Prof. Kathleen Manion who teaches in the Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies program and is program head for the Master of Arts in Justice Studies.
In her RRU Pocket Class, she says rising social anxiety and polarization are pulling us away from this shared vision of justice and community, undermining collective well-being and social cohesion.
“We’re at a point when we need to move beyond seeing justice only through a legal lens,” she says. We need to root it in empathy, connection and care for one another.”
Your homework?
“Think about what a good life means to you and what you can do to make this a better, more just world.”
Ready to help build a more just world? Learn about our Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies or our Master of Arts in Justice Studies.