Abstract

In my dissertation I explore the question of to what extent a good life is within the control of the individual agent and to what extent a good life is due to luck and contingency. In the first two-thirds of the study I examine Aristotle's and Kant's answers to the question. Although this part of the study is largely historical and exegetical, I draw liberally from two novels: Hardy's Jude the Obscure and James's What Maisie Knew. In the final third of the study, I claim that the question cannot be resolved theoretically but must be addressed practically; the question is not "Is a good life within my control?" but rather, "Do I want to live as if my life is within my control or do I want to live as if the quality of my life is a matter of luck and contingency?" I answer this question by claiming that as authors of our lives we need to live them as if they are within our control but that novels such as Jude the Obscure help delineate and perhaps contain the necessary self-delusion which I claim is an unavoidable part of this process