Early Views on Happiness
The concept of happiness is not a new, modern notion as it extensively dates back to the times of Greek philosophers pondering over the many questions of life. Many early views of happiness is surrounded around the idea of good luck and fortune, whereas contemporary views see happiness as an active pursuit (Oishi). For example, the Greek term, eudaimonia (translated as happiness in English), is a combination of eu (good) and daimon (god, spirit), which describes the notion of having a good spirit and a sort of divinity that watches over humans. Thus, it was deemed in ancient Greek times, that happiness was not within the control on human boundaries, but rather governed by the gods. According to Aristotle, there is a distinction between happiness and amusement in which happiness is consisted of a contemplative life and is heavily influenced by external factors such as friends, health, and resources. Thus, he believed that happiness is not left up to luck and the gods, but rather upon factors that can be controlled. So the early views of happiness are centered on having a good life with good fortune that is highly contingent upon external conditions. During the Enlightenment Era, the views shifted to a partial happiness that is achievable through “theological virtues of charity, hope, and faith (Oishi).” It was not until Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, did happiness become an active pursuit as it was deemed an unalienable right. So the views have shifted moving from the stark contrast of the passive, leaving it up to fate concept of happiness to an active quest for happiness. However, this became a pursuit of happiness for material wealth as the concept of happiness moved away from the religious to a more secular idea of happiness. With the rapid industrialization of the modern world, the gradual shift to associating happiness with a more personal and attainable means grew in pace with the economic growth. With new appeals within the mass consumer culture such as new automobiles and trends seen within advertisements, this brought on the idea of being able to attain happiness within one’s reach and control.
Thus, the mere idea of happiness is a universal objective through the lifetime of most humans. Even with people at their deathbeds today, one of their top regrets in life was that they wished they had allowed themselves to be happier (Rosen). So it is not that people do not wish to be happy, but rather people are going about it in ways that do not bring about an overall sense of happiness. There is a tendency within our society to treat happiness as a means to an end. As there is a tendency to treat happiness as a means to a good life, but that is not that case as it is the good life (Gunderman).
Definitions of HappinessBefore we get into the notion of what brings about happiness, we need to first define what exactly is happiness? Before I even embarked upon this project, I always saw happiness as being at peace with oneself: to align one’s actions with one’s own morals and beliefs. In other terms, it means to comfortably embrace who we are as people and to do well unto others. As daunting as that sounds, being happy is having a positive mindset and putting forth out positive, affirmative actions. As I begun to explore this notion of happiness, I have learned that the term happiness encompasses so much more.
Gathering several definitions of happiness: According to a psychological definition, happiness is an emotional state of well- being described through a range of pleasant emotions from extreme joy to complacent contentment (Rosen). According to an economistic professor, Richard Easterlin’s definition of happiness, states that it is “not confined to economic well being but it corresponds to broader concepts of social welfare (Oishi).” |
" The whole economy of human society is based on one general and simple principle: I want to be happy..." -Denis Diderot
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From the definitions of happiness above, it is concluded that happiness is intangible; it is not measurable by attainability. From the psychological definition, it is concluded that happiness is a pleasing feeling of satisfaction. As with all other feelings, happiness can come and go. One minute there is a great sense of euphoric pleasure and the next minute, there is an overwhelming rush of isolation, grief, anger, etc. However, Easterlin’s definition allows for external and internal factors to be included in defining what is happiness. Thus, I am intrigued to looking more closely into determining how happy someone is based on that definition; in which the main reference will be replying upon the definition of standard of living: referring to the material basis of well- being, which is reflected upon the consumer’s consumption levels. To measure a standard of living, an account of their access to resources is determined, which comprises of both, cash and non- cash income (goods, services received as gifts, health, recreation, etc.) factors ("Standard of Living and Happiness"). Factoring in the two definitions, happiness is a measure of an overall sense of fulfillment that contributes to our subjective well being, in which is, produced by circumstantial factors in which people exert little influence over and activities they choose to undertake (Rosen). The term, “subjective well being” refers to people’s cognitive and affective evaluations on their lives; this allows for each person to decide for himself or herself whether they had a good and worthwhile life. However, differences in their happiness are also affected by varying external factors. Thus, it is important to note the levels of consumption and its affect on the general well being of people.