Flourishing is defined as the relative attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person's life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives. Flourishing is an ideal that is never perfectly attained and is multi-dimensional; individuals may flourish in some domains while not in others. At the end of life, physical health typically declines, but other dimensions such as meaning, relationships, and character can still be realized. A person can flourish in a qualified or conditional sense as death approaches. Human mental capacities, social bonds, and narrative meaning allow for unique forms of fulfillment even amid declining health.
The definition of flourishing we have used at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard is "the relative attainment of a state in which all aspects of a person's life are good, including the contexts in which that person lives." Understood thus, flourishing is an ideal. It is not something we ever attain perfectly in this life. Flourishing is also multi-dimensional. We may be flourishing in certain ways, but not in others.
Unlike a tree or a flower, a person also has mental capacities, is involved in human relationships, and finds meaning within the narrative of his or her life. These are important aspects of the human person and of human flourishing. These are aspects of human life that can perhaps find some degree of fulfillment even when health is in decline.
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