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Chapter 1 5 to a subjective feeling, which can occur any moment, and also only for a moment, and can only be assessed properly by the person who feels it (or not). 16 This equation of happiness with hedonism is not at all what Aristotle has in mind with eudaimonia . Flourishing, which commonly is more associated with success, development, thriving, and the like, seems to be more in line with Aristotle’s ideas. 17 Philosopher Richard Kraut argues that it is ‘an illusion (..) to think that we foster a better understanding of Aristotle if we use “well-being” or “flourishing” as our translation of eudaimonia , rather than “happiness”’. 18 This is, of course, true, in the sense that happiness need not necessarily only refer to subjective feelings, and in any sense, a translation remains a translation, which has limitations, especially when the original language is not used anymore and the text is written in a historical context that we can no longer fully understand. However, in my opinion it is not wise to ignore the common sense meaning of words. To take my own associations as an example, with happiness I think of the song Happy by Pharrell Williams (.. Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth -Because I'm happy- Clap along if you know what happiness is to you ..), which I see as an illustration of how in the English language the word happiness is often interpreted as a subjective feeling. 19 I also associate happiness with a momentary feeling. With flourishing on the other hand, I first of all think of success and achievement, and of blooming, vibrant people (which I tend to visualize, for some reason, running and laughing at the same time, as they do in a Nike or Adidas commercial). 20 But also, whereas happiness and well-being seem to be concepts independent of morality, for the concept of flourishing this is not the case. To live a flourishing life while being a successful but ruthless businessman who exploits his employees does not sound right to me. Flourishing lives are generally thought of as (at least) morally decent lives. Although I do not wish to suggest that my associations are always the same as those of everyone else, I think the above examples do illustrate common conceptions of happiness and flourishing. 21 Thus, contrary to Kraut, I think that the (contemporary) associations that come along with certain words, certainly can contribute to, or distract from, how we, in our day and age, understand older, translated texts. 22 According to Aristotle eudaimonia is not achieved by striving for wealth or momentary pleasures, but by the ongoing effort to become a better human being, live a worthwhile life, and by striving for the good for oneself and others. Eudaimonia is defined by Aristotle as a combination of 16 See also De Ruyter 2004, p. 378. 17 This does not imply that every conception of flourishing is in fact a version of Aristotelian eudaimonia , as will be discussed in chapter 2. 18 Kraut 1979, p. 168. 19 See http://www.songteksten.nl/songteksten/364669/pharrell-williams/happy.htm. 20 Which can only indicate that I am not flourishing, for I have never run and laughed at the same time. 21 See also Haybron 2008 and De Ruyter 2015 for a comparison of these concepts. 22 Whether the successful, blooming associations with flourishing aren’t problematic as well is discussed in chapter 2.