ABSTRACT
The previous chapter ended with the question: What is the best sort of life to aim for? There is a familiar, almost commonplace answer to this question – to be rich and famous. This is a conception of the best life to have that is echoed in, and reinforced by media coverage of the life of the stars. It is also the idea that induces very large numbers of people to spend money on national lottery tickets when there is only a tiny chance of winning. Yet, as an answer to the philosopher’s question, the idea that the best life is a rich and famous one does not take us very far, not so much because it is an unworthy ambition (though it may be) but because it is logically incomplete, and necessarily so.
