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Chapter 2 23 the ideal of a flourishing life throughout the rest of her life. In the last part of this article, we further elaborate on the implications that the ideal of a flourishing life can have for education, but first we clarify the proposed criteria. We propose two criteria, of which the second has three sub-criteria. Every actual conception of flourishing should meet all five criteria. Other uses of the term (uses that do not meet these criteria) are possible, but fail to capture what is distinctive about flourishing as opposed to for instance happiness. The first criterion is the same as that which Aristotle starts his search with; establishing that man’s final end is something that is always pursued for itself and never for the sake of something else. 38 Therefore, we propose that flourishing should be perceived as being intrinsically worthwhile. The second criterion is a broad definition of human flourishing; the idea of ‘actualising your potential’. Criteria 2a, 2b and 2c are sub-criteria, which give further content to this idea of ‘actualising your potential’. These criteria have all been derived from Aristotelian eudaimonia . However, as has been said in the introduction, from comparing Aristotle with more recent conceptions of human flourishing, we conclude that the formal criteria are broader than the interpretation of and path to human flourishing that Aristotle had in mind, which shows that eudaimonia in itself is best considered a conception of human flourishing. 1. Flourishing is intrinsically worthwhile Human flourishing is perceived as that-for-the-sake-of-which human conduct is done. 39 It is, in Aristotle’s terms, ‘complete’: while many activities or virtues can be pursued for themselves, we also choose them because we believe that we will be happy if we do so. Flourishing, however, is always chosen for itself and never for the sake of something else. 40 Thus, we do not strive to flourish in order to reach some other goal. It is the other way around. We should add that there are also activities that contribute to a person’s flourishing that are not necessarily done in order to flourish. For example, when a person prefers spending time and money on eating nice food, he might do that just to enjoy nice food. Or, think of someone who engages in a romantic relationship; she did not do that so she could lead a flourishing life, but because she fell in love. The enjoyment of good food or a loving relationship might be constitutive elements of flourishing, but they were not done in order to flourish. 41 Sufficient for the purpose of our formal criteria is therefore to conclude that (a) flourishing is an intrinsic good, and that (b) 38 Aristotle 2009, p. 10, 1097b. 39 Rasmussen 1999. 40 Aristotle 2009, p. 10, 1097b. 41 Compare with what is written in chapter 5; parents who have their children’s flourishing ‘at heart’, or (also) ‘keep it in mind’.