Dictionary

eudaemonism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /juːˈdiːmənɪzəm/

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek εὐδαίμων (eudaímōn, “having a good genius, happy, fortunate”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A philosophical notion, or system of ethics, which measures happiness in relation to morality.
   • 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. 1913 [1886], chapter VII, in Helen Zimmern, transl., Beyond Good and Evil, translation of Jenseits von Gut und Böse […] by Friedrich Nietzsche:

Forms

Coordinates

hedonism · utilitarianism

Relateds

eudemonia · eudaemon · eudaemonic · eudaemonist