Case Study
In her essay "The Meanings of Lives," Susan Wolf asks us to consider a case she calls "The Blob." The Blob is a person who spends every day sitting in front of the TV, drinking beer, and watching reruns of the same shows. Imagine that this is truly all the Blob does, day after day. But nevertheless, the Blob is perfectly content-it is all he wants and it makes him happy. He has no health or financial problems, or other things to worry about.
This is an extreme example, but not terribly unrealistic. There are some people who have such low expectations for their lives that they are perfectly content engaging in the same seemingly meaningless activities day after day. Such cases might lead us to wonder whether some subjective condition, like pleasure and the absence of pain, or the satisfaction or our desires, is really all there is to living a good life.
-What of value (if anything) do you think the Blob's life is missing? What do you think this says about the nature of the good life?
Source: S. Wolf, "The Meanings of Lives." In The Variety of Values: Essays on Morality, Meaning, and Love. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

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The Answer of Case Study
In her essay "The Meanings of Lives," Susan Wolf asks us to consider a case she calls "The Blob." The Blob is a person who spends every day sitting in front of the TV, drinking beer, and watching reruns of the same shows. Imagine that this is truly all the Blob does, day after day. But nevertheless, the Blob is perfectly content-it is all he wants and it makes him happy. He has no health or financial problems, or other things to worry about.
This is an extreme example, but not terribly unrealistic. There are some people who have such low expectations for their lives that they are perfectly content engaging in the same seemingly meaningless activities day after day. Such cases might lead us to wonder whether some subjective condition, like pleasure and the absence of pain, or the satisfaction or our desires, is really all there is to living a good life.
-What of value (if anything) do you think the Blob's life is missing? What do you think this says about the nature of the good life?
Source: S. Wolf, "The Meanings of Lives." In The Variety of Values: Essays on Morality, Meaning, and Love. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Case Study In Her Essay "The Meanings of Lives," Susan Wolf Asks