잘삶에서 ‘활동’의 중요성과 그 교육적 함의

The Significance of Activities in Well-being and Its Educational Implication

Setting up the aim of education as the promotion of pupil’s well-being, the practices of education make differences according to how we understand the meaning of well-being. Recently, John White claims: well-being is one filled with successful and whole-hearted engagement in worthwhile activities and relationships. We need to explain philosophically how well-being connect with activities. In this paper, I examine Hannah Arendt’ view and Alasdair MacIntyre’s view in order to reveal the significance of activities in well-being. Traditionally, one understood human life through framework of theory vs practice, or contemplation vs activity. In this framework, people tend to think the former excellent to the latter. But recently it is suggested that practice or activity have more significance. Hannah Arendt claims that human beings have their presence in the world under the existential conditions of ‘labor’, ‘work’, and ‘action’. They seek meaningful existence through basically liberated actions that they perform despite the restriction of labor and work. For her, such meaningful action imply political action, and it make manifest one’s natality. Alasdair MacIntyre describes the significance of ‘practices’, ‘a narrative unity of human life’, and ‘tradition’ in our lives. Education for promotion of well-being encourage pupils to engage various activities or practices.