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Is a Good Life Enough? Exploring the Golden Mean Philosophy
Finding Fulfillment Between Excess and Deficiency.
Life is a balancing act between two extremes. We want to achieve our goals and maximize our potential, but we fear slipping into the extremes of overambition or complacency.
The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle referred to finding balance as the Golden Mean.
The question is, can we find a golden mean for living a good life?
The Golden Mean
Using courage as an example, Aristotle described this virtue as the midpoint between rashness and cowardice. Neither extreme is favorable.
Rashness involves rushing into danger like a Hollywood action hero (without the advantage of a stunt double). At the same time, cowardice leaves you cringing in a corner, a mere shadow of who you could become.
Neither of these extremes is desirable; the golden mean is found in the middle ground between rashness and cowardice. For him, courage did not signify the absence of fear (rashness) but rather the act of doing what matters (escaping cowardice) in the face of fear.
