4 - Law and Living Well

Summary

As human beings we seek to live well, to lead lives that are rich, meaningful, genuinely worth living (as we sometimes put it). We are bound to do so by the very terms of our existence. This sense of basic purpose, of what fundamentally animates us, is not some function of the human condition, or of its capacity for reflection and action, though it may sometimes seem that way, but on the contrary, extends to everything that can be said to have an existence, whether that be other animals, other living organisms, or even those features of the world, such as rocks and waterfalls, that flourish or fail to flourish, have worth or fail to have worth, despite the fact that they themselves play no active role, whether deliberative or otherwise, in securing either their flourishing or their worth.¹ That said, as human beings we have a distinctive, some might call it a special, relationship to this shared purpose, one that is born of our distinctive capacity to perceive and to discharge the many and complex responsibilities of living well. So living well is a human project but not merely a human project.