eudaemonism
English
Alternative forms
- eudemonism, eudaimonism
Etymology
From Ancient Greek εὐδαίμων (eudaímōn, “having a good genius, happy, fortunate”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /juːˈdiːmənɪzəm/
Noun
eudaemonism (countable and uncountable, plural eudaemonisms)
- A philosophical notion, or system of ethics, which measures happiness in relation to morality.
- Coordinate terms: hedonism, utilitarianism
- 1913 [1886], Helen Zimmern, transl., chapter VII, in Beyond Good and Evil, translation of Jenseits von Gut und Böse […] by Friedrich Nietzsche:
- Whether it be hedonism, pessimism, utilitarianism, or eudaemonism, all those modes of thinking which measure the worth of things according to pleasure and pain, that is, according to accompanying circumstances and secondary considerations, are plausible modes of thought and naivetes, which every one conscious of creative powers and an artist's conscience will look down upon with scorn, though not without sympathy.
Related terms
- eudaemon
- eudaemonic
- eudaemonist
- eudemonia
References
- eudaemonism in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- eudaemonism at OneLook Dictionary Search
Eudaemonism in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)