Eudaimonia, Economics and the Environment: What do the Hellenistic Thinkers Have to Teach Economists about ‘The Good Life’?*

It is argued that the ethical presuppositions of standard economic theory offer an overly narrow conception of the good and valuable. It is also argued that ancient Greek eudaimonism, particularly the variant advanced by the Hellenistic thinkers after Aristotle, provide a fuller guide to the “good life.” A review of the ethical precepts of Epicurus and the Stoic philosophers is undertaken to show how this ancient thought improves on the more limited insights of the rational choice utilitarianism preferred by neoclassical economics. This enriched ethical perspective is capable of providing a superior guide to public policy formulation, including that concerned with environmental sustainability. A connection is made that links Hellenistic eudaimonism to environmental virtue ethics (EVE).