ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the concept of eudaimonia, and considers three possible answers to the question, what is eudaimonia? and notes why both ancient and contemporary eudaimonists reject these answers. It discusses the eudaimonistic virtue ethics, of the kind put forward by Rosalind Hursthouse, Julia Annas, and Daniel Russell, as well as a consideration of two important objections to eudaimonistic virtue ethics. The Greek term eudaimonia is usually translated as "happiness" or "flourishing," but contemporary eudaimonists are quick to point out that neither translation is entirely satisfactory. Christine Swanton argues that saintly benevolence is an admirable character trait and hence a virtue. Eudaimonistic virtue ethics is the view that eudaimonia is a life lived in accordance with virtue, and Aristotelians are the leading supporters of this view. Perhaps the most frequent objection to eudaimonism is that it is a form of egoism. Eudaimonistic virtue ethics is the view that eudaimonia is a life lived in accordance with virtue.
