Human Flourishing

Human flourishing is an English term often used to translate the Greek term eudaimonia. Often weakly translated as “happiness” or alternatively as “well-being,” the Greek eudaimonia eludes precise English translation from the literal meaning—possessing a “good (eu) spirit (daimon).” Ancient Greeks believed that daimons were guardian spirits animating the material world of people, creatures, and things; shrines and cults were often identified in ancient Greek literature as a means of venerating the daimons, or spirits, of gods and heroes. It was not until the Christian era that its meaning narrowed to its contemporary usage as “demons.” The term human flourishing is thought by some to capture a richer meaning of eudaimonia as the full human actualization of the good, an approach to moral philosophy known ...