{"id":312,"date":"2016-02-29T10:22:21","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T10:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teachingblogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/hst6347\/?p=312"},"modified":"2016-08-18T21:47:16","modified_gmt":"2016-08-18T21:47:16","slug":"happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/philosophy\/2016\/02\/29\/happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness."},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlie Roden\u00a0took the \u2018Philosophical Britain\u2018 module at Queen Mary in 2016. In this post she writes about \u2018happiness\u2019 as a\u00a0philosophical keyword, with the help of Charlie Brown.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Extract from the comic-strip ‘Peanuts’. Image from http:\/\/www.philipchircop.com\/post\/15448312238\/incidentally-what-is-happiness-do-whatever<\/p><\/div>\n

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘happiness\u2019 is defined as \u2018the state of being happy\u2019, that is, \u2018feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.\u2019[1]\u00a0\u00a0Happiness is a universal concept which, I believe, most people aspire to achieve. However, since happiness is so subjective, everyone interprets it in different ways.<\/p>\n

Many people believe that they attain happiness when they eat their favourite food, buy new clothes or earn a lot of money. Although these are all experiences that can be enjoyed, they don\u2019t actually cause happiness- they only bring us pleasure.\u00a0 Of course, the official definition of \u2018happiness\u2019 does include pleasure, however I agree with Happiness International<\/a> who suggest that pleasure is only short-lived and externally motivated. If happiness relied on pleasures such as the ones just mentioned, does this suggest that without a lot of money or materialistic items people are unhappy?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe that anyone can truly define ‘happiness’, and by looking at the history of this word we can see how its cultural and philosophical meanings have changed over time, demonstrating that happiness cannot simply be understood as a single concept.<\/p>\n

\u2018Happiness\u2019 stems from the late fourteenth-century word \u2018hap\u2019 meaning \u2018good luck\u2019 or \u2018chance\u2019. [2] This suggests then that in the Middle Ages, a person was believed to be happy if they had good fortune. \u00a0Already, we can see how a modern perspective of ‘happiness’ is different to this idea, as although being lucky can promote happiness, we can often feel happy without being fortunate.<\/p>\n

The sole predecessor to the idea of ‘happiness’ was proposed by Aristotle (384-322 BC). In his Nicomachean Ethics<\/a>, <\/em>Aristotle emphasised that the ultimate aim in life is \u2018Eudaimonia\u2019, an Ancient Greek term usually translated as \u2018happiness\u2019 or \u2018human growth.\u2019 [3]<\/p>\n

Unlike an emotional state, such as pleasure, Aristotle asserted that Eudaimonia is about reaching your full potential and flourishing as a person. In order to do this, you need to live a life that is wholesome and virtuous to attain the best version of yourself. [4]\u00a0Virtue can be achieved through balance and moderation, as this way of life leads to \u2018the greatest long-term value\u2019 rather than just pleasure that is short-lived. \u00a0[5]\u00a0In a modern-day perspective, this would be the difference between earning vast sums of money but spending it all at once, as opposed to spending money wisely, ensuring it will last and provide you with a good life. [6]<\/p>\n

In the early modern era, the importance of happiness began to emerge in the political sphere. [7]\u00a0In 1726, the Scottish philosopher Francis Hutcheson <\/a>(1694-1746) wrote that<\/p>\n

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\u2018that Action is best, which procures the greatest Happiness for the greatest Numbers; and that, worst, which, in like manner, occasions misery.\u2019 [8]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This utilitarian principle, which aims at the greatest happiness of the greatest number, essentially asserts than an action is right if it produces happiness and wrong if it produces the reverse of happiness. [9]<\/p>\n

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Jeremy Bentham, image from http:\/\/sueyounghistories.com\/archives\/2010\/06\/13\/jeremy-bentham-1748-%E2%80%93-1832\/<\/p><\/div>\n

The most famous advocate of utilitarianism was English philosopher and jurist Jeremy Bentham<\/a>\u00a0(1748-1832). Bentham proposed many social and legal reforms, such as complete equality for both sexes, and put forward the idea that legislation should be based on morality. [10]\u00a0Identifying the good with pleasure, in his 1781 book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation<\/em>, Bentham wrote:<\/p>\n

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\u2018Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 [11]<\/em><\/p>\n

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By stating that happiness can be understood in terms of the balance of pleasure over pain, Bentham shares an ethical Hedonistic claim; the notion that only pleasure is valuable, and displeasure or pain is valueless. [12]<\/p>\n

In 1861, English philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill<\/a>\u00a0(1806-1873) published one of his most famous essays, Utilitarianism<\/em>, which was written to support the value of Bentham\u2019s moral theories. The general argument of Mill\u2019s work proposed that morality brings about the best state of a situation, and that the best state of affairs is the one with the largest amount of happiness for the majority of people. Mill also defined happiness as the supremacy of pleasure over pain; however, unlike Bentham, Mill recognised that pleasure can vary in quality. Whereas Bentham saw simple-minded and sensual pleasures, such as drinking alcohol or eating luxurious foods as just as good as complex and sophisticated pleasures, such as listening to classical music or reading a piece of literature, \u00a0[13]\u00a0Mill argued that:<\/p>\n

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\u2018the pleasures that are rooted in one\u2019s higher faculties should be weighted more heavily than baser pleasures.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

[14]\u00a0\u00a0Mill\u2019s version of pleasure also links back to the tradition\u00a0 of Aristotle\u2019s virtue ethics, as he stated that leading a virtuous life should be counted as part of a person\u2019s happiness. [15]<\/p>\n

Ultimately, \u2018happiness\u2019, at least from a political viewpoint, took its deepest roots in the New World. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) asserted that:<\/p>\n

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\u2018The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.\u2019 [16]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He believed that a good government was one that promoted its people\u2019s happiness by securing their rights.<\/p>\n

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First Printed Version of the Declaration of Independence, 1776, image from http:\/\/www.loc.gov\/exhibits\/creating-the-united-states\/interactives\/declaration-of-independence\/pursuit\/enlarge5.html<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness\u2019, the three \u2018unalienable rights\u2019 is the phrase \u00a0most often quoted from \u00a0the 1776 American Declaration of Independence<\/a>. Today, Americans translate \u2018the pursuit of happiness\u2019 as a right to follow ones dreams and chase after whatever makes you subjectively happy. [17] \u00a0\u00a0However, Professor James R. Rogers from Texas A&M University argues that happiness in the public discourse of the late eighteenth-century did not simply refer to an emotional state. Instead, it meant a person\u2019s wealth or well-being. [18]\u00a0It included the right to meet \u2018physical needs\u2019, but it also encompassed an important religious and moral aspect. The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 confirmed that:<\/p>\n

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\u2018the happiness of a people and the good order and preservation of civil government essentially depended upon piety, religion and morality, and\u2026 these cannot be generally diffused through a community but by the institution of the public worship of God and of public instructions in piety, religion and morality.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0[19]<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Statements like these can be found in many documents of the time. Essentially, \u2018happiness\u2019 in the Declaration should be understood as a virtuous happiness, again similar to Aristotle\u2019s \u2018Eudaimonia\u2019. Although the \u2018pursuit of happiness\u2019 includes a right to material things, it goes beyond that to include a person\u2019s moral condition. [20]<\/p>\n

After searching for the philosophy of happiness in twentieth-century Britain, I came across Bertrand Russell\u2019s (1872-1970)\u00a0The Conquest of Happiness<\/em><\/a>, published in 1930. To my surprise, I found his beliefs on happiness rather modern, and similar to the sort of ideas about happiness you can read about in self-help books<\/a> today. Nevertheless, I found his work inspiring. Russell wrote this book to ‘suggest a cure’ for the day-to-day unhappiness that most people suffer from in civilised countries.\u00a0\u00a0[21]<\/p>\n

The key concept of happiness that I took away from Russell’s book was to stop worrying:<\/p>\n

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\u2018When you have looked for some time steadily at the worst possibility and have said to yourself with real conviction, \u201cWell, after all, that would not matter so very much,\u2019 you will find that your worry diminishes to a quite extraordinary extent.\u2019<\/em>\u00a0[22]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This also means to stop worrying about what other people think of you, since most people will not think about you anywhere near as much as you think [23], essentially suggesting that people overestimate other negative people\u2019s feelings about them.<\/p>\n

With around two thousand self-help books being published every year, it can be argued that happiness is more central to modern-day society than any other time in history. [24]<\/p>\n

However, as well as aiming to achieve happiness, there is now a huge emphasis on how to reduce symptoms which prevent happiness, such as anxiety and depression. \u00a0According to the Huffington Post<\/a>, around 350,000,000 people around the world are affected by some form of depression. These extortionate statistics has led to the creation of organisations such as Action For Happiness<\/a>, whose aim is to reduce misery in people\u2019s lives, and encourage people to create more happiness and less unhappiness in the world.<\/p>\n

Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1838-1910) once said:<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you want to be happy, be.\u201d\u00a0[25]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The idea that we can simply choose to be happy, regardless of certain aspects of our life that we want to change, is also a prevalent idea today. The best-selling song of 2014, Pharrell Williams’\u00a0Happy<\/em> promotes this idea:<\/p>\n

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‘Because I\u2019m happy, clap along if you feel like a room without a roof.’ [26]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When asked what these lyrics meant, Williams stated that happiness has no limits and can be achieved by everyone.<\/p>\n

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Pharrell Williams’ reply. Image from https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pharrell\/status\/431011318737698816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/p><\/div>\n

Finally, the idea that everyone can achieve happiness has been a topic talked about by Sam Berns<\/a>. Berns suffered from Progeria<\/a> and helped raise awareness of this disease. He died one year after appearing in a TEDx Talks<\/a> video called \u2018My philosophy for a happy life\u2019 at the age of seventeen in 2014. In this inspiring video, Berns shares his four key concepts that help him lead a happy life.<\/p>\n

1) Overcome obstacles that prevent happiness.<\/p>\n

2) Instead of focussing on what you can\u2019t do, focus on what you can do.<\/p>\n

3) Surround yourself with people who bring positive energy into your life.<\/p>\n

4) Don\u2019t waste energy on feeling bad for yourself.<\/p>\n