TERM

εὐδαιμονία (εὐμοιρία у Марка)

eudaimonia (eumoiria)
RU

счастье, благоденствие

EN

eudaimonia, flourishing

§ IDefinition

Eudaimonia is the central concept of Greek ethics: the life worth living; the "successful" life taken as a whole. Etymologically εὖ + δαίμων: "in the company of a good daimōn," that is, with a favourable inner guardian (or rather inner divine principle — which for the Stoics is the ruling part, identical with the divine portion). Each school gives eudaimonia its own specification: for Epicurus — ἀταραξία (the absence of mental disturbance); for Aristotle — ἐνέργεια κατ' ἀρετήν (activity in accordance with virtue, sustained by a complete life with external goods); for the Stoics — TERMεὔρους βίος (the smooth flow of life), achieved through DOGMAvirtue alone.

The morphological antonym is TERMκακοδαιμονία (κακο- + δαίμων), which has its own card. In Marcus the verbs εὐδαιμονεῖν and κακοδαιμονεῖν work as a binary opposition: there is no third option — either you live εὖ with your daimōn-as-intellect, or you live κακῶς. Since eudaimonia and kakodaimonia are distinct concepts (not one concept in different forms), they are treated in separate cards; the cross-references sit here and in TERMkakodaimonia.

§ IISource

Aristot. Eth. Nic. I 4–13 (the classical statement of the question); SVF I 184 (Zeno's formula — eudaimonia as εὔροια βίου); III 16, 49–67 (Chrysippus); DL VII 87–89; Stob. Ecl. II 77 W (the classical Stoic definition). The term eudaimonia itself is rare in Marcus; its specific Stoic forms — εὔρους βίος (02-05) and εὐμοιρία (02-06) — appear more often; the term itself, with its etymology unpacked, at 07-17 (εὐδαιμονία = δαίμων ἀγαθός).

§ IIINotes

In 02-06 Marcus uses the rare form εὐμοιρία — literally "a good TERMμοῖρα," that is, "a good lot," "a well-drawn share." It is synonymous with eudaimonia but semantically foregrounds what is measured out, apportioned, received by lot. The cluster is internally coherent: τὰ συμμεμοιραμένα in 02-05 — "what is measured out together with the whole" (also from the root TERMμοῖρα) — and εὐμοιρία in 02-06 — the good state of that measured portion. Hence the paradox of self-reproach: the soul places its εὐμοιρία in other souls, whereas by definition εὐμοιρία is the state of my own TERMμοῖρα and admits of no placement outside myself. See TERMheimarmene (the cosmological "measuredness" of all that is), dichotomy-of-control (the structural cause of the error), and aidos (the inner correlate of a properly drawn boundary).

TERM

εὐδαιμονία (εὐμοιρία у Марка)

eudaimonia (eumoiria)
RU

счастье, благоденствие

EN

eudaimonia, flourishing

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§ IDefinition

Eudaimonia is the central concept of Greek ethics: the life worth living; the "successful" life taken as a whole. Etymologically εὖ + δαίμων: "in the company of a good daimōn," that is, with a favourable inner guardian (or rather inner divine principle — which for the Stoics is the ruling part, identical with the divine portion). Each school gives eudaimonia its own specification: for Epicurus — ἀταραξία (the absence of mental disturbance); for Aristotle — ἐνέργεια κατ' ἀρετήν (activity in accordance with virtue, sustained by a complete life with external goods); for the Stoics — TERMεὔρους βίος (the smooth flow of life), achieved through DOGMAvirtue alone.

The morphological antonym is TERMκακοδαιμονία (κακο- + δαίμων), which has its own card. In Marcus the verbs εὐδαιμονεῖν and κακοδαιμονεῖν work as a binary opposition: there is no third option — either you live εὖ with your daimōn-as-intellect, or you live κακῶς. Since eudaimonia and kakodaimonia are distinct concepts (not one concept in different forms), they are treated in separate cards; the cross-references sit here and in TERMkakodaimonia.

§ IISource

Aristot. Eth. Nic. I 4–13 (the classical statement of the question); SVF I 184 (Zeno's formula — eudaimonia as εὔροια βίου); III 16, 49–67 (Chrysippus); DL VII 87–89; Stob. Ecl. II 77 W (the classical Stoic definition). The term eudaimonia itself is rare in Marcus; its specific Stoic forms — εὔρους βίος (02-05) and εὐμοιρία (02-06) — appear more often; the term itself, with its etymology unpacked, at 07-17 (εὐδαιμονία = δαίμων ἀγαθός).

§ IIINotes

In 02-06 Marcus uses the rare form εὐμοιρία — literally "a good TERMμοῖρα," that is, "a good lot," "a well-drawn share." It is synonymous with eudaimonia but semantically foregrounds what is measured out, apportioned, received by lot. The cluster is internally coherent: τὰ συμμεμοιραμένα in 02-05 — "what is measured out together with the whole" (also from the root TERMμοῖρα) — and εὐμοιρία in 02-06 — the good state of that measured portion. Hence the paradox of self-reproach: the soul places its εὐμοιρία in other souls, whereas by definition εὐμοιρία is the state of my own TERMμοῖρα and admits of no placement outside myself. See TERMheimarmene (the cosmological "measuredness" of all that is), dichotomy-of-control (the structural cause of the error), and aidos (the inner correlate of a properly drawn boundary).

Related6
Appears in5
2.6Do wrong to thyself, do wrong to thyself, my soul; but thou wilt no longer have the opportunity of honouring thyself. Every man's life is sufficient.​ But thine…2.8Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man has seldom been seen to be unhappy; but those who do not observe the movements of their own minds mus…3.12If thou workest at that which is before thee, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract thee, but keeping…5.37I was once a fortunate man, but I lost it, I know not how. But fortunate means that a man has assigned to himself a good fortune: and a good fortune is good dis…7.17[Eudaemonia happiness] is a good daemon, or a good thing. What then art thou doing here, O imagination? Go away, I entreat thee by the gods, as thou didst come,…
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