Happiness Debate Guide

From PhiloWiki

Happiness is not an idea of reason but of imagination.~Immanuel Kant

Western society takes its concept of happiness, at least in part, from the Greek concept of Eudaimonia. Eudaimonia(Greek: εὐδαιμονία) is a classical Greek word commonly translated as 'happiness'. Etymologically, it consists of the word "eu" ("good" or "well being") and "daimōn" ("spirit" or "minor deity", used by extension to mean one's lot or fortune). Although popular usage of the term happiness refers to a state of mind, related to joy or pleasure, eudaimonia rarely describes a state of mind, and the less subjective "human flourishing" is therefore currently preferred as a translation.

[1] from Wikipedia

1 Round One: Academic
2 Scientific views
3 Philosophical views
4 Religious Concepts of Happiness
5 Round Two: Applied
6 Background Reading

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Round One: Academic

What is happiness?
What are the differences (if any) between happiness and pleasure?
Are a happy life and a worthwhile life the same things?
Is it possible to be happy in a world where there is so much human suffering? If so, how? If not, why?

Compare and contrast the some of the major philosophical views and theories of happiness. You might want to take a look at Aristotle's ideas of happiness as living a life of excellence or John Stuart Mill's classical utilitarian philosophy...

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Scientific views

Proponents of the 'new science' of happiness have been working over the past decade to measure and quantify elements in society which influence levels of happiness. Some influential researchers in this field are:

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, born in 1934, is a psychology professor at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago. He is noted for his work in the study of happiness, creativity, subjective well-being, and fun, but is best known as the architect of the notion of flow and for his years of research and writing on the topic.

[2] from [3]

Daniel Kahneman (born March 5, 1934 in Tel Aviv), is an American psychologist, notable for his pioneering work on behavioral finance and hedonic psychology.

[4] from [5]

Martin E.P. Seligman is an American psychologist and writer. He is well known for his work on the idea of "learned helplessness," and more recently, for his contributions to and leadership in the field of Positive Psychology.

[6] from [7]

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Philosophical views

Eudaemonia

According to Aristotle, the hierarchy of human purposes aim at eudaimonia as the highest, most inclusive end. This is the end that everyone in fact aims at, and it is the only end towards which it is worth undertaking means. Eudaimonia is constituted, according to Aristotle, not by honor, or wealth, or power, but by rational activity in accordance with excellence over a complete life. Such activity manifests the virtues of character, including courage, honesty, pride, friendliness, and wittiness; the intellectual virtues, such as rationality in judgment; and it also includes non-sacrificial (i.e., mutually beneficial) friendships and scientific knowledge (knowledge of things that are fundamental and/or unchanging is the best).

[8] from [9]

Epicureanism

For Epicurus, the highest pleasure (tranquility and freedom from fear) was obtained by knowledge, friendship, and living a virtuous and temperate life. He lauded the enjoyment of simple pleasures, by which he meant abstaining from bodily desires, such as sex and appetites, verging on asceticism. He argued that when eating, one should not eat too richly, for it could lead to dissatisfaction later, such as the grim realization that one could not afford such delicacies in the future. Likewise, sex could lead to increased lust and dissatisfaction with the sexual partner. Epicurus did not articulate a broad system of social ethics that has survived.

[10] from [11]

Stoicism

The idea was to be free of suffering (which the Stoics called passion) through apatheia (απαθεια) (Greek) or apathy, where apathy was understood in the ancient sense—being objective or having "clear judgement"—rather than simple indifference, as apathy implies today. The Stoic concepts of passion and apatheia are analogous to the Buddhist noble truths; All life has suffering (Dukkha), suffering is rooted in passion and desire (Samudaya), meditation and virtue can free one from suffering (Nirodha and Marga). It is also analogous to the concepts in Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, which stresses rising above the dualities such as pleasure-pain, win-lose, to perform one's duties.

[12] from [13]

Hedonism

The basic idea behind hedonistic thought is that all actions can be measured on the basis of how much pleasure and how little pain they produce. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize this 'ratio' (pleasure over pain). The nineteenth-century British philosophers John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham established the fundamental principles of hedonism through their ethical theory of Utilitarianism. Utilitarian value stands as a precursor to hedonistic values in that all action should be directed toward achieving the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Though consistent in their pursuit of happiness, Bentham and Mill’s hedonistic values are faintly divergent in relation to their exposition of the principle of utility. .

[14] from [15]

Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism (from the Latin utilis, useful) is a theory of ethics that prescribes the quantitative maximization of good consequences for a population. It is a form of consequentialism. This good to be maximized is usually happiness, pleasure, or preference satisfaction. Though some utilitarian theories might seek to maximize other consequences, these consequences generally have something to do with the welfare of people (or of people and nonhuman animals). For this reason, utilitarianism is often associated with the term welfarist consequentialism

[16] from [17]

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Religious Concepts of Happiness

Please Note: Each entry presented below contains only one or two instances of the idea of happiness for each faith. These entries are not (and not intended to be) complete, or even adequate, depictions of the faiths' doctrines or beliefs. They are, instead, brief explorations of only one aspect of the religious philosphy witin each faith.

Buddhism

Nirvana is the extinguishment of all desire, delusion and ignorance. It has been likened to the snuffing out of a candle, where the spirit is freed from all worldly passions; it is the realization that the Self does not exist, and that human desires are empty. An enlightened Buddhist is able to act in this world with complete detachment (without desire), and their actions have no karma. A Buddhist who has attained Nirvana has escaped the world of cause-and-effect (they are free from the cycle of birth and rebirth). The realisation of Nirvana is a happy experience (but not the sensation of joy). Nirvana is fully realized at death, but can be experienced before death.

[18] from Wikipedia

Christianity

The greatest happiness of all, the ultimate good, consists in the beatific vision. Thomas Aquinas ~Summa Theologiae

In Roman Catholic theology, the beatific vision is the direct perception of God enjoyed by those who are in Heaven, imparting supreme happiness or blessedness.

"How great will your glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God... to delight in the joy of immortality in the Kingdom of Heaven with the righteous and God's friends" ~ St. Cyprian

[19] from Wikipedia

Hinduism

After many births, every person eventually becomes dissatisfied with the limited happiness that worldly pleasures can bring. At this point, a person begins to seek higher forms of happiness, which can be attained only through spiritual experience. When, after much spiritual practice (sādhanā), a person finally realizes his or her own divine nature—ie., realizes that the true "self" is the immortal soul rather than the body or the ego—all desires for the pleasures of the world will vanish, since they will seem insipid compared to spiritual ānanda. When all desire has vanished, the person will not be reborn anymore.

[20] from Wikipedia

Islam

Al Ghazali's treatises, the "Reconstruction of Religious Sciences" and the "Alchemy of Happiness," argued that Sufism originated from the Qur'an making it compatible with mainstream Islamic thought and theology. It was around 1000 CE that the early Sufi literature, in the form of manuals, treatises, discourses and poetry, became the source of Sufi thinking and meditations.

[21] from Wikipedia

Alchemy of happiness (Sufi Islam)

Those who deny the reality of the ecstasies and other spiritual experiences of the Sufis merely betray their own narrow-mindedness and shallow insight. Some allowance, however, must be made for them, for it is as difficult to believe in the reality of states of which one has no personal experience as it is for a blind man to understand the pleasure of looking at green, grass and running water, or for a child to comprehend the pleasure of exercising sovereignty. A wise man, though he himself may have no experience of those states, will not therefore deny their reality, for what folly can be greater than his who denies the reality of a thing merely because he himself has not experienced it! Of such people it is written in the Koran, "Those who have not the guidance will say, 'This is a manifest imposture.'"

From[22]

Judaism

Job and the Hidden Face of God[23] from Wikipedia

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Round Two: Applied

What is happiness?
How does happiness add value to human life?
What is the purpose of happiness in (one's) life?
- Would ahappy person go to war?
Could the secret of happiness be grounded in helping the poor? Could it be in seeking pleasure for its own sake? Could you find it in self - actualizing your own powers? relationships? religion? patriotism?
What would it mean if there were no possibility for happiness within human existence?
How is life changed by the pursuit of happiness? What difference does Aristotle's dictum (that only excellence creates happiness) make? Does happiness make life more valuable? / better for ourselves and/or others?
Is the search for happiness born of a fear of death? Does happiness only come if we forget that we are finite beings?

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