📖 The Good Life Method by Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko

Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko’s The Good Life Method invites us to treat philosophy not as ivory-tower theorizing but as a living practice. Rooted in their acclaimed Notre Dame course “God and the Good Life,” the authors weave classical insights with contemporary dilemmas, guiding readers through nine chapters and an epilogue toward crafting their own roadmap for meaning, happiness, and moral depth.

Introduction: Philosophy as a Practical Toolkit

Philosophy, Sullivan and Blaschko insist, is less about arcane jargon and more about equipping us to live well. They recount the genesis of their seminar, where undergraduates grapple with questions that touch every life stage: What does it mean to flourish? How do we reason through faith and doubt? By positioning students’ lived experiences at the heart of discussion, the authors model a method that privileges authenticity, vulnerability, and rigorous dialogue.

The introduction lays out three core commitments:

• Pursue truth through open inquiry
• Build arguments grounded in clarity and respect
• Translate insights into concrete habits and goals

By framing these pillars up front, Sullivan and Blaschko set the stage for a journey that oscillates between the abstract heights of metaphysics and the messy realities of heartbreak, injustice, and mortality.

Chapter 1: Desire the Truth

Sullivan opens with a vivid classroom vignette: a debate between her and then–mayor Pete Buttigieg on the health of democracy. Plato’s distrust of popular opinion meets Buttigieg’s faith in civic engagement, sparking questions that resonate far beyond the seminar room. Is truth sacrificed on the altar of expediency? How do we guard against self-deception when the stakes feel existential?

Drawing on Socratic dialogues, the authors argue that genuine inquiry demands intellectual courage. We must:

• Recognize biases and social echo chambers
• Embrace questions that unsettle our convictions
• Cultivate habits - journaling, Socratic dialogue, community forums - that root us in reality

By “desiring the truth,” we commit to a lifelong pursuit where even cherished beliefs remain open to revision.

Chapter 2: Make Good Arguments

This chapter functions as an invitation to the arguer’s craft. Sullivan and Blaschko dissect classic logical fallacies - ad hominem, straw man, false dilemma - and show how they derail honest discourse. More than a list of errors, the focus is on building a conversational ethos where interlocutors listen to understand, not merely to respond.

Key lessons include:

1. Distinguish premises from conclusions with precision.
2. Test each step of inference against counterexamples.
3. Treat objections as opportunities for deeper clarity.

Through in-class workshops and written exercises, students learn that argumentation is not about rhetorical victory but about collective pursuit of insight.

Chapter 3: Love Wisely

Turning to ethics, Sullivan invokes Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics to reframe love as a dynamic practice rather than a passive emotion. Romantic love, she argues, blossoms when guided by practical wisdom (phronesis), ensuring that affection aligns with long-term flourishing for both partners. Family and friendship similarly demand moral virtues - generosity, loyalty, patience - to thrive in adversity.

Illustrative case studies featured include:

• A partnership strained by career ambitions, resolved through shared goal-setting.
• Sibling bonds tested by inheritance disputes, healed via empathetic listening.

By “loving wisely,” we accept that relationships are moral laboratories where we cultivate the virtues that shape our character.

Chapter 4: Choose Justice

Here the spotlight shifts to political and social ethics. The authors contrast utilitarian calculations - aiming for the greatest good for the greatest number - with virtue-based approaches that emphasize character formation. They interrogate real dilemmas: Should a whistleblower break confidentiality to expose corporate wrongdoing? When does protest cross from moral courage into reckless endangerment?

To navigate such tensions, Sullivan and Blaschko recommend a three-step justice test:

• Evaluate intentions and likely consequences
• Consider the broader impact on community trust
• Reflect on the actor’s moral integrity and identity

This framework privileges agents who act justly not just out of duty but from an ingrained sense of right.

Chapter 5: Cultivate the Good Life

Midway through the book, the authors synthesize personal practices into a comprehensive “good life plan.” They guide readers to articulate core values - autonomy, generosity, curiosity - and to align daily routines accordingly. Journaling prompts, accountability partnerships, and periodic philosophical retreats become tools for ongoing calibration.

An extended example follows a student who reshapes her academic trajectory to integrate community service, creative writing, and reflective silence. Her journey embodies the chapter’s thesis: flourishing emerges from intentional, value-driven habits as much as from abstract ideals.

Chapter 6: Reason About God

Transitioning into theology, Chapter 6 tackles faith with the same analytic rigor displayed in earlier ethics sections. The authors survey classical arguments - cosmological, teleological, moral - and modern critiques, including existentialist and secular humanist perspectives. They stress that belief should be the outcome of reflection, not cultural inheritance or emotional impulse.

Readers are encouraged to map their own credal landscape by:

• Listing reasons for and against belief in God
• Weighing existential benefits such as community and hope
• Testing religious claims through historical and experiential lenses

Ultimately, Sullivan and Blaschko invite both theist and skeptic to engage in honest, open-ended inquiry.

Chapter 7: Confront Suffering

Suffering, they observe, is the crucible in which our beliefs and character are tested. Drawing from Job, Camus, and contemporary trauma studies, the authors examine mechanisms for finding meaning amid pain. They contrast denial, bitterness, and nihilism with courageous acceptance, creative transformation, and compassionate solidarity.

Practical takeaways include:

• Community rituals - grief circles, narrative sharing - to process loss
• Reflective practices - meditation, philosophical journaling - to integrate trauma
• Service-oriented projects that redirect suffering toward collective healing

By confronting suffering directly, we unlock the possibility that adversity can deepen our humanity.

Chapter 8: Face Death

In their penultimate chapter, Sullivan and Blaschko push readers to confront mortality’s inevitability. Stoic exercises - negative visualization and memento mori - intersect with existentialist calls to authenticity. The awareness of finitude, they argue, sharpens our priorities and liberates us from trivial anxieties.

Students recount how guided meditations on death prompted career pivots, relationship reconciliations, and renewed devotion to creative passions. Through these stories, the authors demonstrate that embracing death’s reality can paradoxically fuel a more vibrant, purposeful life.

Chapter 9: Live with Purpose

The finale weaves together truth-seeking, argumentation, love, justice, faith, and existential awareness into a unified vision of purposeful living. Sullivan and Blaschko propose that purpose is neither discovered nor delivered - it is crafted daily through acts of meaning. They encourage readers to write a personal manifesto, charting how each philosophical insight translates into concrete actions over months and years.

The chapter closes with students sharing their manifestos: one aspires to launch a social justice startup; another commits to deepening familial ties through weekly storytelling dinners. These testimonies illuminate how philosophy, when taken seriously, transforms aspirations into lived reality.

Epilogue: Drafting Your Good Life Plan

In a final burst of practical guidance, the epilogue offers structured templates for:

• Clarifying core convictions and nonnegotiable values
• Setting short-term milestones and long-term horizons
• Establishing periodic review rituals with mentors or peers

With these tools in hand, readers are poised to transition from reflective readers to active architects of their own good life.

Final Reflections and Next Steps

The Good Life Method refuses to rest on academic laurels; it insists that thinking well and living well are inseparable. Sullivan and Blaschko don’t hand you fixed answers - instead, they equip you with an enduring method of questioning, reasoning, and intentional practice.

Looking forward, you might consider:

• Hosting a reading group to explore each chapter in dialogue
• Designing a personal retreat weekend around the book’s exercises
• Adapting the good life plan template into a digital journaling app
• Inviting friends into “philosophy challenges” that test and refine your commitments

Philosophy begins in wonder and ends in wisdom - activated, embodied, shared. May this chapter-wise journey inspire your own pursuit of the good life.