Premium Essay

Explain and Defend Your Preferred Theory of Happiness (Externalist Theory of Happiness)

In: Philosophy and Psychology

Submitted By Shamener
Words 2195
Pages 9
Explain and defend your preferred theory of happiness

In this paper I am going to explain and defend my preferred theories of happiness. I will defend the externalist versions, which are the externalist life satisfaction theory and the externalist desire fulfilment theory. In the first section I will describe the theories. In the second section I will argue that neither affective nor objective theories of happiness are correct. Finally in the third section I will argue that the externalist satisfaction theory is the best version of a desire-based theory of happiness. I will not mention all of the theories, but rather focus on the ones I find the most interesting.

Happiness is constituted by desire-fulfilment. It is not only about single desires to be fulfilled, but also about the life-satisfaction as a whole. It is how your life is going on the whole, and how it is satisfying to you. It is not enough only to believe that your life is satisfying, but you must actually be satisfied. We set our own standards for ourselves, which leads to desires that we want to be fulfilled. I believe that Richard Nozick was right to say that a life and self that happiness is a fitting response to, is what we want. We also need to give our life that response. We must correctly believe that out desires are being fulfilled and that this will measure up to our own standards that we set for ourselves. It is not sufficient to be in a psychological state, because the externalists care about more than just how we feel inside. We set plans for ourselves and our judgements of getting what we want must line up with this plan. I think it is the correct thing to say that what makes us happy is setting these goals for ourselves and try to achieve them and realize when they are achieved that our life measures up to our own standards. The externalist theories argue that we will be happy if we

Similar Documents

Free Essay

The Thief of Time

...The Thief of Time The Thief of Time Philosophical Essays on Procrastination Edited by Chrisoula Andreou Mark D. White 2010 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2010 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The thief of time: philosophical essays on procrastination / edited by Chrisoula Andreou and Mark D. White. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-537668-5 (hardback: alk. paper) 1. Procrastination. I. Andreou, Chrisoula. II. White, Mark D., 1971– BF637.P76T45 2010 128'.4—dc22 2009021750 987654321 Printed in the United States of...

Words: 125542 - Pages: 503

Premium Essay

Philosophy and Design

...Philosophy and Design Pieter E. Vermaas • Peter Kroes Andrew Light • Steven A. Moore Philosophy and Design From Engineering to Architecture Pieter E. Vermaas Delft University of Technology Delft the Netherlands Andrew Light University of Washington Seattle USA Peter Kroes Delft University of Technology Delft the Netherlands Steven A. Moore University of Texas Austin USA ISBN 978-1-4020-6590-3 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-6591-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2007937486 © 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com Contents List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design in Engineering and Architecture: Towards an Integrated Philosophical Understanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Kroes, Andrew Light, Steven A. Moore, and Pieter E. Vermaas Part I Engineering Design ix 1 Design, Use, and the Physical and Intentional Aspects of Technical Artifacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Words: 165744 - Pages: 663