Lecture 17, 2024
“Gratitude and Human Flourishing”
Jonathan Lear
University of Chicago
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Abstract
What is the role of gratitude in a flourishing, meaningful, happy life? This paper argues that
gratitude is crucial. Although Aristotelian in spirit, this paper tries to correct for Aristotle's
aristocratic outlook. It offers an Aristotelian ethics more suitable to democratic culture. The
paper also draws on contemporary psychoanalytic thinking about the central place of gratitude in infantile development and adult human flourishing.
Preferred citation
Lear, Jonathan. “Gratitude and Human Flourishing.” The Amherst Lecture in Philosophy 17 (2024): 1–19. <http://www.amherstlecture.org/
lear2024/>.
