What is happiness? People have agonized over this question for centuries. Let me start this essay by answering a somewhat easier question: what isn’t happiness? Happiness is NOT feeling good all the time. Happiness is a combination of human emotions and states of mind. Exploring this state of being has consumed the philosophical minds of the ages and will continue to do so for ages to come.
In an unofficial poll of students at State University, I found that of the fifty-eight students and one professor, males and females of several ethnic backgrounds and age groups, that I asked the question "What is happiness to you?", all of them had very different physical, intellectual, or emotional motivator for their happiness. Only the
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But these supplementary explanations do not affect the theory of life on which this theory of morality is grounded namely, that pleasure, and freedom from pain, are the only things desirable as ends; and that all desirable things (which are as numerous in the utilitarian as in any other scheme) are desirable either for the pleasure inherent in themselves, or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain. (Pojman 917)
Mill seems to think that happiness comes from the desire to be completely pain-free.
He says that happiness comes from selfishly fulfilled desires. The desire to attain only pleasure is ludicrous; for a person to achieve a completely pain-free existence is impossible. To gain complete happiness would leave them with no motivation to achieve anything else. Human nature is such that if a person achieved pure happiness, that person would then become dissatisfied with that happiness, causing them to, once again, be unhappy. A person will always experience something contrary to pleasure, leaving them with some type of pain.
In my opinion, people seem to be happy for many different reasons at different times in their lives. I
Happiness is something that all people, no matter what race, gender, or social class, strive for. Based on lifestyle or perspective each person has their independent idea of what happiness is, but everyone shares an end goal to live their definition of a happy life. Many people, though, struggle in finding their way to this goal. They face hardships and challenges that test their happiness every day. Happiness, though somewhat indirectly, does take learning and training to discover and maintain.
What Is Happiness? Happiness is one of life’s great goals, and with the ever increasing number of opportunities in this world, it would seem people would feel happier. However, the number of people describing themselves as happy has, in fact, decreased, according to Barry Schwartz in “The Tyranny of Choice” he writes that in America “About 14 million fewer people report being very happy today than in 1974” (Schwartz 721). This is a surprising number considering all the products that are being made are supposed to make our lives easier and, therefore happier.
No matter how happy people are there is always something that would make them happier.
The true meaning and idea of happiness could perhaps never be truly known. Throughout the ages, the idea of what happiness is has been
Happiness has been and will be controversial topic that will carry on decades from now. It seems to be not one definite definition based on people’s perception of what it means to be happy or what bring about happiness. Some people believe it is just an end goal while others take it as the beginning point to further greatness. People seem to usually draw happiness from a vast number of things. Generally, happiness comprises of an emotional and mental state of well-being that can be characterized through pleasing and positive emotions such as contentment and joy. However, happiness has been researched and defined differently based on religious views, biological views, philosophical and psychological views. In this essay, I will clarify the enigma about happiness and how it is attained.
Happiness can come in a wide variety of things. Different things make different people happy. Seeing a cute dog can make me happy for a moment. Do we long to be happy one day at a time or are we longing to know we will never be sad? Assume every person on the planet has had their happy moments, there is always a deterrent. Always the next moment that can be taken in any direction and if you have experienced emotions then it is known. People may long to be happy but. I think no one can ever be one hundred percent happy for their whole life, but I think people can be content. There will always be moments that are not happy moments but there will always be another moment that can bring joy. I believe you can be happy with your life, even with those moments of other emotion. One of the main things that I want in life is happiness. What can make me happy are many different things. I long for happiness, and in that longing many things that have the
People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through
I started to question about happiness in America after I saw a pattern in high school that students are often confused or stressed. I started out with the question, “why is it hard to be happy when being happy shouldn’t be that hard?” To answer these questions, I found Sophie Chan’s 2011 study, “Hong Kong Chinese community leaders’ perspectives on family health, happiness and harmony: a qualitative study.” This study would help answer questions on my audience’s curiosity about other countries happiness compared to the United States. Then I started to think that there were also other issues that friction with happiness in America and
Every person has a different understanding of happiness. Happiness is defined as an emotion in which one experiences feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense joy. Happiness may be defined in such a way, but it can be interpreted in many different ways by different people. There are many happiness triggers in life, and each person has a set of triggers that make them feel happy. Based on the readings “The Sources of Happiness” by the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, “If We are So Rich, Why Aren’t We Happy?” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and “July: Buy Some Happiness” by Gretchen Rubin, three of the causes of human happiness are a positive adaptation to life, the ability to get fully involved in life, and the wise use of money.
Happiness: a Human Disease -- An Examination of the Allegorical Theme of Existentialism in the Happy Man
The idea of happiness has been morphed from something simple to something complex. Exactly what is happiness and how is it achieved? Some believe happiness comes to those who wait for it; however, it takes effort to attain happiness, and everyone should try to be happy by understanding the nature of happiness, overcoming their fears, and setting goals.
Happiness is not a strange term to us. We usually use that word to express our feelings in every day. Additionally, more than a word, “happiness” is what we really need and always seek in life. However, finding and understanding deeply its meaning is not easy. The online dictionary, “vocabulary.com” defines, “Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness.” Thus, we always wonder if we are happy or how could we be happier in our life. Happiness, therefore, becomes a goal for everybody.
In times of the woeful and disappointing situation, people find it not easy to change it too positive and happy situation. What is the true meaning of happiness? This question has puzzled the people around the world. According to psychology happiness is feeling characterized by love, contentment, pleasure, joy, or satisfaction. Happiness is not only because the good things that happened in people lives but also when someone are the cause of these events. Some people my claim that the human do not have the ability to change the situation from negative to positive. However, it is argued that the happiness is something that the humans have on control.
Happiness can often be defined as joyousness, glee, delight, or any other feeling pleasure; however, these experiences are not true happiness. Rather than just an instantaneous, manic feeling, such as joy, true happiness resembles something closer to satisfaction. This meaning of satisfaction is not pleasure, but, instead, means contentment with one’s whole situation in life.
Happiness is a state of mind, defined by positive and pleasant influences and emotions that one experiences in life. Happiness is not one exact emotion like contentment or joy. It is more of a scale that ranges between these two emotions. In simple words, a person who is content with life, may not necessarily be happy. Neither