HAPPINESSChapter 12

HAPPINESS OVERVIEW

The search for happiness is high on the list of themes in the humanities

We say “oh well, as long as they’re happy”

What defines happiness?

Is joy equal to happiness? Can we be happy without joy?

HEDONISM

Happiness is the sum total pleasures experienced during one’s lifetime.

Hedonism-happiness is equivalent to physical pleasure and to the possession of things that provide us with pleasure

Home and society might try to teach us less selfish values, but instinct prevails

LITERARY HEDONISM

Shakespeare-Eat, Drink and be Merry

Robert Herrick-Gather Ye Rosebuds

“Carpe Diem”- seize the day

HEDONISM ASSUMPTIONS

Everyone deserves as much pleasure as possible

Pleasure is automatically good No amount of pleasure is ever too much The absence of pleasure is a misfortune for

which compensation is due

Big earnings theory- an “earning” is considered the pleasure owed to a deserving person for services rendered or unpleasant chores completed

EPICUREANISM

Happiness is avoiding pain Assumptions

Pleasure is good, but not the only good (sometimes we may pass over many pleasures when greater discomfort accrues to us as a result of them).

Temperance No one can sustain pleasure over prolonged

periods of time Avoid excess, seek out controllable, nonphysical

pleasures (humanities)- treasures one “ cannot lose”

CRITICISMS

Definition of pleasure is too limited

Hedonists claim human nature but there are those who choose to live otherwise, are they “freaks”?

Just as rooted in self-interest as Hedonism just different mask

Should be detached in order to avoid pain, isolated

Hedonism Epicureanism

STOICISM

Don’t plan ahead for a life of unlimited pleasure nor should you expect to avoid pain through discipline and moderation.

Pain is intrinsic to living Best possible action is to prepare for the

worst and develop a technique for dealing with it.

Nothing is under our control expect the way we think about things.

Romans embraced this concept/lifestyle, no excess, bare necessities

STOICISM AND CHRISTIANITY

Blended perfectly, the idea that only the soul, not the body mattered

Christian martyrdom deeply rooted in stoic principles

Prosperity does not last forever, seeks not pleasure but inner peace.

CRITICISM OF STOICISM

If pain is temporary, then so is happiness Critics say stoics secretly want everyone else

to be miserable too Schadenfreude- German term for the

pleasures derived from the misfortune of others

ARISTOTLE’S VIEWS-”WHAT AM I DOING THAT MAKES MY LIFE GOOD?”

Not moment to moment, but a characterization of how one’s life is being conducted

If we are living a good life along the way, we know we are on the right path

What gives us pleasure or joy at one moment cannot be happiness because we can always think of something that would be better

If we allow reason to be our guide we will always do the right thing.

That way we can guarantee we are living the good life

May have regrets, but doesn’t mean that life was not a happy one

Happiness Reason and Virtue

ARISTOTLE

Role of government is to see that citizens are happy

Offer protection How can

government reasonably protect the state if it sometimes uses unreasonable methods?

Assumes that a society with citizens’ welfare as the sole concern of government would be on its way to happiness.

Societies are much more complex, bureaucracy

Can’t rely on government to make you happy

Government’s Role Reconsidered…

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History is filled with remarkable examples of how good lives managed to overcome horrible barriers.

Anne FrankMartin Luther King Jr.Gandhi

BUDDHIST PATHS

Develop teachings of Siddhartha into 4 noble truths… Life is filled with pain The cause of pain is

frustrated desire There is a way out of

pain The way out is the

Eightfold Path

Adds a larger perspective and a more expansive concept of bliss

Nirvana is attainable in one lifetime

Move beyond 4 Truths to help others

Hinayana (little ferryboat)

Mahayana (big ferryboat)

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Leader of Tibetan Buddhism Practices Mahayana Tranquility is achieved

through acceptance of everyone else, not burning desire to change them.

IN CLOSING,

Once you recognize that you are in control of defining your happiness and can make it mean what is possible for you, not what you can never hope to achieve, then you may experience a measure of contentment.