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)

1. A philosophical notion, or system of ethics, which measures happiness in relation to morality.

   Coordinate terms: hedonism, utilitarianism

   • 1913 [1886], chapter VII, in Helen Zimmern, transl., Beyond Good and Evil‎^[1], 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, →OCLC.
• “eudaemonism”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Eudaemonism in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)