The Contingency of Human Flourishing. Good Life After Modernity

The focus of this chapter is on how a morphogenic society can make an especially favourable or adverse environment for human beings to flourish, and for their possibility to live a good life—individually and collectively. The chapter analyzes the main challenges and opportunities, the axes of tension, the structural and cultural cleavages, and the social conditions of existence for people(s) to flourish. The main thesis is that the high complexity and dynamism of the morphogenic society makes the chances of flourishing more contingent than ever. This contingency is due to the reflexive responses by individuals and groups, with their mutual relationships and creative appeal to some cultural heritage. After an introduction on the problem of human thriving (Sect. 9.1), I briefly outline the modern solution of the problem, and its crisis. I also identify the main foci of tension emerging from the ‘morphogenic’ situation (Sect. 9.2). Section 9.3 discusses some conceptual frameworks which are rising to the challenge. Finally, Sect. 9.4 draws some conclusions about the current socio-cultural crossroads concerning the possibilities of the good life. The ideas of flourishing and calling are examined, as the centres of different notions and practices of the good life.