A Eudaimonic Perspective on Bruce Springsteen and His Album Born to Run

The field of positive psychology has helped trigger extensive interest in the notions of well-being and flourishing in life and work settings. Early renderings of these concepts date back to ancient Greece, and the work of Plato and Aristotle. A term that Aristotle popularized related to well-being and flourishing is the Greek word eudaimonia. Aristotle’s intent in using this term was to encourage his students to live a life based on moral and intellectual virtues. While eudaimonia has appeared in numerous publications, the concept has not been applied to the life of an artist. Art matters to the lives of individuals and society. This article focuses on the application of eudaimonia—and the student formation process developed by early Greek schools of philosophy—to better understand the success of an artist, in this case, Bruce Springsteen and his legendary album, Born to Run.