...Happiness has always been a topic to study by the scientists, psychology and philosophers; however, there is not an agreement about what happiness is. Some branches of the psychology prefer to study the positive feelings that could make the human being feel happy, due to how wide could be the concept of happiness. Humans being has always wanted to discover the key to happiness, furthermore, which is the definitions that science gives to happiness? Otherwise, is happiness a feeling that could be reachable thanks to the things that the human being owned? And afterwards, does the happiness exist as long as the feelings and actions are in the right places? In the next paragraphs these questions are going to be answered. To begin the etymological...
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...Undoubtedly, happiness is the most important part in our lives. But if you ask different individuals what is happiness, there are absolutely a wide variety of answers you would hear. It is difficult to define happiness because it means different things to different people. Like such, obtaining happiness can vary people to people and it can shape what their lifelong goals and dream are. Usually, happiness can be described as a feeling of pleasure or enjoyment or sometimes a feeling of self-fulfilment. If you ask someone the meaning of happiness, he or she will pause for a time because the description of happiness is very complicated. Whether It would be having wealth, fame or fortune, the definition of happiness will vary people to people as people themselves are unique and dissimilar. Moreover, the thing that makes people happy are dependent to age because for a child, a toy makes them happy and for a teenager a car could makes them happy. To achieve happiness is not very hard but to defining happiness is very difficult. If people could find the meaning of being happy they will achieve happiness in a short time because they will know the route of happiness. None of the wind can help a ship if it does not know the destination. That’s why over the years in my life, my meaning of happiness have changed and evolved substantially. At first I believed, like most people of my age at the time, that materialistic wealth would mean happiness. However, as I got more mature and grew older...
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...24 March 2015 What is happiness? What is happiness? For some people it is the Mocha Frappucino from Starbucks™ that they have every single morning, some it is the moment their first child is born, and to me, well like most people, have not quite figured that out yet. In Eric Weiner’s eye-opening novel, The Geography of Bliss, Weiner travels to each corner of the earth to try and figure out what really makes people happy, why, and if there really is a science behind it. As Americans, our point of view of other countries is somewhat clouded due to how involved we are with our own but we cannot deny that we are not the happiest country in the world. What makes our country so unhappy? That question is as difficult to answer as what makes certain people and places happy because it can depend on so many factors. We, as citizens of the United States have many things we can improve upon to raise our happiness levels and also we can learn from other countries that are happier than us and in some cases, the ones that are not. For example, we value what kind of toppings we want on our ice cream while children in Africa struggle with feeding their families and themselves. Has our live of luxury made us opaque to what can truly enlighten us and help us achieve happiness? America is known as “A Big, Fat, Stupid Nation”, one writer from the media site Huffingtonpost.com literates. Without going into details about the article we can have a brief overview of what America is seen like...
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...Mike Glenn Professor Lehe: Philosophy 100 Major Paper #1 4-22-11 What is Happiness? Many people wonder how famous, wealthy, and icons of pop culture, who have everything anyone could ever want, are not truly happy people. These people possess power, fame, and money. If those things do not provide happiness, then what does? Also, there are the people like Ghandi and Jesus who had very little or nothing and still were happy. They had inner peace and happiness that led them to become moral figures for the people of our generation. These people who had almost nothing somehow possessed happiness. This brings about questions like, “What is happiness?” and, “What do people need to do in order to be happy?” I believe in order to possess happiness one needs to live a life in accordance with virtue; a life that Aristotle said would lead to happiness. In this essay I will state and talk about some different views of happiness and moral goodness. I will also summarize my true opinion of what happiness is and what way of life I believe one should live. First, Hedonism or the Principle of Utility, a philosophy that Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill live according to, says that pleasure is good and will lead to happiness. They believe that if you avoid pain and maximize pleasure that you will gain happiness. The Greatest Happiness principle states that one should approve or disapprove of an action based on the amount of pain and pleasure brought about for all people affected...
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...Will money bring true happiness? Or rather, will people be the same person they were before adding money to their life? I believe that true happiness is the friendships that people make in life and the family that they spend their time with, because whether they are poor or rich, it hardly makes any difference if they have no one to spend time with doing things. Also, the happiest people in the world are some of the simplest people, and they are familiar with what makes them happy. The general argument made by Eduardo Porter’s essay “What Happiness Is”, is that “citizens of much the world – expand large amounts of time and energy pursuing more money and a bigger GDP because they think it will improve their well-being” (461). He cites...
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...Happiness The first person I decided to interview was my sister’s friend, Jared. He is 27 years old and has had what most would consider a hard life. The interview went as follows…. Me: What is your definition of happiness? Jared: I guess the definition would be to be being at peace with yourself and being at peace with who you are and where you are emotionally and mentally. Me: What makes you happy in life? Jared: A loud 375 hp Trans am with the top down (chuckling), being with a good woman. Me: Would you consider yourself to be a happy person, why or why not? Jared: No, some things make me happy, but still struggle with inner demons and I think too much most of the time. Me: Do you think you will ever get past your inner demons and be happy again? Jared: Yea, just personal things I have to deal with, my personal demons cannot be fixed, they are in the past and you can’t always change the past. Me: What experiences have influenced your definition of happiness? Jared: No real experiences, it is just what I think happiness is. Me: Has your definition of happiness changed over time? Jared: Yes, ten years ago I was just happy to have another party to go to, but now I see it is more about being at peace with yourself. Me: Do you expect the definition to change again? Jared: I am sure it probably will. The second person I decided to interview was someone I know very well, my Mom. She is 48 years old and she was a single mom of three girls and has since married a...
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...Happiness | Nicole Baker | Kaplan University HU300:23 | | 2/22/2011 | | Happiness The first person I decided to interview was my sister’s friend, Jared. He is 27 years old and has had what most would consider a hard life. The interview went as follows…. Me: What is your definition of happiness? Jared: I guess the definition would be to be being at peace with yourself and being at peace with who you are and where you are emotionally and mentally. Me: What makes you happy in life? Jared: A loud 375 hp Trans am with the top down (chuckling), being with a good woman. Me: Would you consider yourself to be a happy person, why or why not? Jared: No, some things make me happy, but still struggle with inner demons and I think too much most of the time. Me: Do you think you will ever get past your inner demons and be happy again? Jared: Yea, just personal things I have to deal with, my personal demons cannot be fixed, they are in the past and you can’t always change the past. Me: What experiences have influenced your definition of happiness? Jared: No real experiences, it is just what I think happiness is. Me: Has your definition of happiness changed over time? Jared: Yes, ten years ago I was just happy to have another party to go to, but now I see it is more about being at peace with yourself. Me: Do you expect the definition to change again? Jared: I am sure it probably will. The second person I decided to interview was someone I know very well...
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...What is Happiness? John Barrymore once said, “Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.” You find happiness in places you never thought you would. Now, how you find it, is based on what doors you leave open. Happiness is a release. A release from all politics, school, and drama. It is that “ahhh” feeling you get when you just completed a 5 page paper and can finally turn it in. That feeling that calms you down and makes you feel alive. For once you are finally living the way you see the people living in the movies. The successful business man or woman strutting the streets, holding their head above all others, that is you. Or the picture perfect family, with a big house, a dog, straight A students, a housewife, and a working husband. The release from knowing you are better than the people around you just because you found happiness....
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...What is happiness? Webster’s defines happiness as a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. I believe that total complete happiness is being completely content with who you are and what you have. Factors that contribute to happiness are family, friends, and love. I also feel that having that inner peace and high self-esteem are other factors that contribute to happiness. Depending on one’s definition of success can also be a factor of success because no one ever says that they do not want to excel in anything that they do. On the other hand I feel that a person does not need to be overly wealthy to be happy. I feel that all the money in the world cannot buy you...
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...What is happiness and do we cause our own happiness? What is happiness, how do we know when we have achieved happiness if it is not measured. If it is not profitable then why is it so important to so many people? And if it is not tradable then how do we achieve it, do we cause our own happiness. So what is happiness “The quality or state of being happy. Is the dictionary definition but then what does being happy mean? Happiness is arguably the strongest and most powerful feeling we can experience but, how do people understand happiness? Philosophers have an understanding of happiness and have boiled it down to two reasons hedonia and eudaimonia. Hedonia means happiness is the polar opposite of suffering; the presence of happiness indicates the absence of pain. Because of this, hedonists believe that the purpose of life is to maximize happiness, which minimizes misery. Eudemonia defines happiness as the pursuit of becoming a better person. Eudaimonists do this by challenging themselves intellectually or by engaging in activities that make them spiritually richer people. The main distinction between these two is that hedonia uses the idea that happiness is achieved by external things whereas eudaimonia believes that happiness comes from within us. Let’s take a closer look at the first idea. Hedonia which states that happiness is achieved by external things, such as things we want or already own. A flash car, a three story house or having lots of money, after all what person...
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...Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness: This is my vision for America! At times, the circumstances of life seem to blind us to the magnificence of our nation. The reporter on the news dramatically highlights yet another school shooting, a terrorist bombing, racial attacks, wars, debt, diseases. It is wearying! Is happiness a worthless pursuit in America? There was another time in our country's history that our citizen's faced a similar dilemma. In 1787, after winning a bloody, costly war for independence, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention were divided and at a stalemate. Benjamin Franklin proposed calling upon the "assistance of Heaven" and asking for wisdom to begin each day. We need wisdom today. In many ways we too are divided...
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...Course: Date: What Brings People More Happiness: Pursuit of Desires or Their Attainment? People define happiness differently. An economist relates happiness to the wealth of individuals while a psychologist defines happiness with regard to feelings and deep emotions of gratification. To some, happiness is attributed to the attainment of desires, and to others satisfaction of human beings lies in the fact that life is glum, and expectations serve to betray men. Where real satisfaction and happiness lies, remains a question that many try to answer. While attainment is the ultimate objective of all pursuits and accomplishment is a factor for more progress, desires and destinations still do not completely satisfy humans. The pursuit of your dreams and desires injects purpose into your life making it meaningful. By responding to your utmost desire, it is guaranteed that you would be happily leading your life, as there is always a push in driving everyday through. Pursuit prevents you from experiencing stagnant stages in life, as you are always motivated to achieve what you want to achieve. While the outcome if this pursuit may not be guaranteed, you can still gain happiness throughout the journey. The blunders made, the challenges surmounted, the adversities faced will all transmute you into a better person, with good virtues cultivated all the way. Of great importance, you would not die regretting; as you have toiled and tried your best in attaining what you want. Several...
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...What is true happiness? Tori Erskine Journalism You know the old saying “money cannot buy you happiness,” but what is happiness? Happiness has a different definition for everyone. Happiness can be found in a multitude of places. Happiness is an emotion that can be caused by objects or memories or just being with the people we love. Some people think happiness is not caused by overcoming obstacles in their lives or experiencing moments of great joy. Moments like graduating high school or college, getting a job they are good at or getting a promotion, or being married to the ones they love. Other think happiness is found in objects of money that they have or want. Everyone experiences happiness in one way or another in their lives. Some people find happiness in the simplest things. You could also find happiness in the people around you. Others find happiness in overcoming difficult times of their lives. Many people try to achieve happiness, happiness is and emotion of enjoyment, but what is enjoyment? According to Mrs. Decker, a high school counselor at AACS, “Happiness is being comfortable with yourself and content with your live.” Being comfortable with one self means that one loves the way they are and they care about themselves. Being content with one’s live means that one cares about their life and they learn from their mistakes. It also means they make decisions that fit who they are. Many people feel this way. Mr. McAneney, a high school counselor said,...
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...Phenomenology of Happiness What can make one person happy might not have the same effect on another. With this, it is difficult to find the perfect recipe for happiness. However what is true is that happiness is the one thing that people do not tire of. We continue searching for happiness even if we know that we will eventually tire of what provides it, and we will have to search all over again. For thousands of years, human behaviour has largely been about and driven by the pursuit of happiness. Even if we have not yet understood its complete nature up to now, we still continuously look for it. This unending pursuit is an evidence of how important happiness is to us. Happiness is a positive feeling and it is quite contagious. On the surface, it can be defined by a heartfelt laugh, a smiling face, or even a touching tear. Often times when we hear laughter, we associate it with happiness Whether you know the person who is laughing or not, you know that person’s laughter is a very strong indication of his or her happiness. This is also true when we see a smile, or when we witness tears of joy. It is often hard not to be at least quite affected by the happiness of another person. A person who is dear to you may express his happiness through stories that he will tell you and you in turn will be glad for him, and possibly for few moments, you may even forget your own worries and just join him in this feeling of elation. An old couple sitting in the park bench may radiate happiness through...
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...responding “The pursuit of happiness” Eng101-AC17 September 25, 2015 Matthew F. Adams The Pursuit of Happiness Mark Kingwell is an author of the book In pursuit of happiness: Better living from Plato to Prozac (1998). The reading is about the happiness, and this is the philosophical question "what is happiness?” In general, he wants to show the reader how to identify, to pursuit happiness? But he shows happiness is an essentially contestable concept. By many ways, he tries to define the meaning of happiness by taking another author’s idea about happiness. Firstly, he chooses to explain by a New English Dictionary, for example, the famously unhelpful state of pleasurable content of mind, which results from success of the attainment of what is considered good. And the he called a universal definition of happiness “a mug’s game”- that is the game no one can win. He states that the search for the happiness is one of the chief source of unhappiness”. Base on the Psychological Science money, education, and family background are less important in determining one’s level of happiness than basic genetic. What is happiness? Happiness is really easy to answer someone if there happiness is simple. Or it might be a confusing answer. Henri de Montherlant said “happiness write white when it comes to literature or it’s just a banality of contentment”. The author knows that is an impossible answer but he wants to show that every people want to search for their happiness concept. Therefore, the...
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