A good life is a life that is humanly and professionally interesting, a desirable life and, therefore, one worth living. Its ethical dimension makes it preferable to all others, because it is much more than a successful life. It represents personal fulfillment in consideration of others.
Jean-Paul Fitoussi wrote this when, several years ago, I asked him to write a few lines of epilogue for one of my books.
Today, when we suddenly feel his absence so terribly, it is good for us to remember that, yes, the Professor lived a good life. An eminent scholar, an analyst listened to at the highest levels, a generous teacher, ready to give the same attention to his most renowned colleagues and to students just starting out, but above all a gentle and kind friend, always calm in his manner, French by birth and Italian by adoption. In short, a citizen of the world, attentive to others, to other people.
Yes, because it is precisely people who suffer the effects of the shocks caused by that “economic insecurity” in which we now systematically live, and which Fitoussi analyzed with great competence and healthy critical judgment. The Professor had developed a modern vision of economics, centered in recent years around one keyword: “well-being,” the ultimate purpose of every reflection.
And it is precisely by developing the capacity to measure new indicators of economic systems, combining theory and practice, that – according to Fitoussi’s contribution – it becomes possible to reduce inequalities and gaps, creating opportunities for young people and for the most disadvantaged within an increasingly fair and sustainable society.
His presence, apparently so discreet and silent, now leaves a void that seems boundless to us: Professor, Jean-Paul, how could we fill it? “Taking an interest in each person, so that each person may have their chance,” he would tell us, “is the good life as your horizon.”
It is the trust in the words you left us, it is your lesson that today makes us feel grateful to have read you, listened to you, and known you. That same trust, you wrote, represents “a facilitator of learning the Good Life, open to others, an antidote against turning inward upon oneself.”
That trust, dear Jean-Paul, which you concluded “is a key element of social capital, of the well-being of individuals and societies, in which schools and universities have the task of educating for altruism, leaving no room for indifference.”
Thank you, Professor.
