Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Of the three, happiness is the greatest goal that anyone could have. To be happy is desired by everyone, but what really is happiness? Happiness is defined as, "A mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from content to intense joy." The only problem that is presented with the idea of happiness is that what brings happiness varies for each individual. Happiness for one person could be to have a lot of money and to another, it could be having the family around for Christmas. Happiness
Sometimes, happiness is measured in instant gratification or honor. Instant gratification, or pleasure, to me, is a simple term, not a complex term. Getting a new iPhone 6 or buying a new car definitely feels instant gratification when it happens, but it is really only to fulfill a purpose. For the iPhone 6, its sole purpose is to make calls and a car's is to get from point A to point B. Contrary, honor would be a complex term define. Being honorable provides a feeling that something good is being done. Also, it is the way that people respect and see another, with either good or bad ideals. People assume that there needs to be a descent mix between pleasure and honor for happiness to occur, but this is not true.
Pleasure is shared with other living life forms not just humans. This shows that pleasure cannot be the sole reason for happiness. Honor is also tricky. Honor depends on what other people think which makes it dependent. Happiness is sought after for happiness alone. To be happy is the goal of human life according to Aristotle.
I agree that happiness and honor is dependent on the person. Kids in America are more happy with new game systems while kids in poor countries, (or what America considers poor), are happy with just receiving candy. When my mom visited Ghana, Africa and she bought some kids candy, she expressed how happy and grateful the kids were while if she brought be candy I would just say thank you and walk away. Even in our own country, happiness can be measured by income. While someone who is surviving off of less that $30,000 a year would be portrayed as unhappy, some are actually happier than those making more that $80,000. So it all depends on what specific thing makes one individual happy.
ReplyDeleteI also agree. materialistic things can make some people happy whereas, other things such as having good morals and values may make others happy. This is a good post. Wealth may be everything to one person where as it may mean nothing to another person
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