Happiness is an emotional state characterized by satisfaction, contentment, feelings of joy, and fulfillment. It mainly involves positive emotions and life satisfaction despite having many different definitions. Psychologists use the term subjective well-being when talking about this emotional state. Subjective- well-being tends to concentrate on the overall personal feelings of an individual about their present life. Happiness has two main components, the balance of emotions and life satisfaction. The balance of emotions is generally associated with more positive than negative emotions. Life satisfaction is how individuals feel satisfied in different areas of their lives, including achievement, work relationships, and other essential things. Therefore, this paper focuses on what happiness is and answers the question of what it is to be happy using the ideas and views from hedonism and the theories of virtue by Aristotle and Plato.
Hedonism is the view that a good life should be pleasurable in moral philosophy. Psychology represents the theory that the primary motivator of human behavior is pleasure-seeking. Hedonists are individuals who are optimistic about pleasure and, when possible, reap the fruits of pleasure (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). The contrary is asceticism which entails abstinent behavior and the moral rejection of pleasure. The advantages of this hedonism have had a longstanding discussion. Some associate it with moral decay and overindulgence, while others claim it healthy and natural. Hedonism’s mixed feelings are mirrored in the connotations surrounding the word (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Hedonism is associated with good taste and the art of living well on the one hand and with addiction, irresponsible behavior, short-sighted behavior, and superficiality on the other hand. There are several consequences of hedonism for happiness in both negative and positive views.
Human beings have always been warned to avoid the lures of lustful living down the ages. Religious leaders have preached much of this admonition, such as fundamentalists in the United States of America, the Middle East, and Europe, including health advisers and politicians (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Hedonism has also been criticized by novelists, for instance, Aldous Huxley in his ‘brave New world.’ There are two major lines in the criticism of hedonism (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Firstly, it is not good for individuals, and secondly, it is not suitable for our environment. The environment argument holds that hedonism leads to over-consumption and that this will contribute to the continuing exhaustion of natural resources and therefore accelerate environmental destruction (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Hedonism is suggested to decrease an individual’s danger awareness following this line since self-indulgences overpowers critical thinking and understanding.
The social quality is ruined by the daily treadmill of apparent consumption, destroying the work ethic within the society and undermining morals within the community. Since pleasures induce a rosy and unrealistic outlook, hedonists are again seen to be short-sighted to these dangers (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). These opinions are mainly presented as a broader modernization and consumer society review. At the individual level, there are two lines of critique, starting with hedonism undermining health (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). This view applies specifically to the quest for sensory pleasures such as smoking tobacco, eating sweets, having abundant sex, and drinking alcoholic beverages.
The second line of criticism is that happiness is decreased by hedonism in the long term. The attack is taken to the heart of hedonism with the claim that pleasure-seeking leads to unhappiness. Hedonists should indeed reject hedonism if it does lead to pleasure (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). In this reasoning, as hedonists would have it, happiness is mainly defined as the enjoyment of ones’ life (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). The claim insists that a hedonistic lifestyle does not contribute to happiness in the long term but the shorter period instead, with the paradoxical result being credited to various mechanisms.
One of the reasons hedonists may end up being sad is that pleasure might fade or die with time. This leads to an urge for ever-stronger stimuli and leaves the pleasure seeker unsatisfied (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Dangerous behavior would increase happiness disappointment since sensitivity is reduced by experience; the outcome for the hedonists is emptiness. The theme associated with this is that hedonism causes addiction (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Pleasure seeking can make an individual make wrong friends and do risky experimentation. Habituation would likewise lead to forever increasing levels of stimulation with a self-destruction risk. The addiction point is part of a broader claim that hedonism leads to losing reality control (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). In this view, since hedonism spoils individuals, it can also decrease control. Therefore, the pursuit of pleasure leaves people untrained since it makes them avoid challenges.
Avoiding experiences potentially judged as painful reduces the stress tolerance of hedonists, making them more exposed in the long-term and be anxious. Growing anxiety might enhance reliance on stimulants leading to drug addiction (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Hedonism is seen to lead to idleness as hedonists are portrayed as passive lotus-eaters since pleasure-seeking is considered antithetical to active involvement (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). It is inferred that the pursuit of pleasure gives rise to less pleasurable experiences in the end than a life devoted to self-development. There is good evidence that enjoyment is the end product of self-actualization.
Hedonism leaves many higher pleasures untasted as it addresses a limited part of the human repertoire. Hedonists face bankruptcy since mere enjoyment has little meaning (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). When habituation breaks the spell of lust, old age and sickness reduce the capacity for enjoyment for the hedonist, causing the end of life in an existential vacuum (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). In this reasoning, the search for personal pleasure makes people less sensitive to their needs, which links with the view that hedonism causes moral decay and leaves hedonists lonely due to further isolation. Companionship deficiency may make the hedonist even more susceptible to addiction.
There has been less concern on the advantages of hedonism, possibly since they are seen as self-evident. The hedonism advocates claim that we should not disregard pleasure since it is a natural signal (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). It is presumed that the need to do what is good for us has been implanted in us by evolution, and therefore, the search for pleasure makes people behave in beneficial ways as it comes naturally (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). It is also claimed that pleasurable experiences preserve health by reducing stress.
Happiness is perceived to result from the sum of pleasures and pain, and that if an individual reaches out for enjoyment, then this balance is likely to be more positive. Several indirect contributions are mentioned next to this effect (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). An example of such a direct effect is that enjoyment increases the capacity of an individual to deal with problems of life that enhance the tolerance of an individual for stress and by encouraging control of reality over emotion-focused coping (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Another indirect effect is that enjoyment makes people more sociable. Individuals or people laugh and talk most during a good meal or over a glass of wine, reinforcing social bonds that set the scene for more happiness pleasurable practices or experiences in the future. Additionally, hedonism is said to contribute to happiness by its positive impact on physical health.
The advocates of hedonism are more concerned with attacking the theory that negative effects prevail as much as they deem these positive effects rather obvious. The criticism is about a caricature of hedonism being a counter-argument that equates pleasure-seeking with a preference for primitive pleasures and uncontrolled greediness commonly of the flesh (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). It is believed that an individual derives pleasure from a mix of moderate pleasures which appeal to the mind and the body. Enjoyment facilitates the performance of these tasks, and it is also denied that pleasure-seeking interferes with involvement in social and work obligations (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Critics of hedonism fail to provide convincing empirical proof for their improbable assertions since they cannot view reality without a taste in their mouth.
The theories of virtue can also describe what happiness is where both Plato and Aristotle have their views on happiness. Plato believed that individuals who are happy are moral and follow the four cardinal values (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). He also taught that these were the character traits that could be used and practiced without thinking about them. These values include temperance, justice, fortitude, and prudence. Firstly, according to Plato, justice is the most abstract of the virtues and is the middle road between being selfish and selfless (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Plato believed that it was important for individuals to help those around them flourish, although it is essential to pursue their desires.
Secondly, temperance is defined as a value that involves the moderation of an individual’s wishes as it is the middle road between deficiency and excess. To show control and stay balanced, Aristotle, for instance, would judge a person who drinks alcohol in excess in a similar way he would a person who never drinks alcohol. Not everybody will do everything in moderation, and there is also an argument that individuals must be moderated (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Therefore, individuals can determine the elements of their lives where it might be helpful by studying temperance.
Thirdly, fortitude, also known as courage, is the inner strength in the face of adversity. One can overcome difficulties and resist temptations when you are courageous. An individual can remain persistent, persevere, and keep fighting despite the troubles they might face (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). For one to fulfill their goals, fortitude is significant, leading to happiness. Lastly, prudence entails being reasonable and using that reason to govern oneself. Those who are happy can choose moral actions and self-judge (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). They can learn from their mistakes, be mindful, and do better. More irrational and intense emotions can cause unhappiness, whereas reason can help make an individual happy.
Aristotle believed that happiness was the goal of life, and it is attained by living virtuously. Individuals can live virtuously by fostering their intrinsic good habits and developing others. One can continually lead a good life and make good choices by living virtuously (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Human beings are set apart from other organisms since they have critical skills and are self-aware. Therefore Aristotle believed that humans need to utilize reasoning to be happy, which will make them live a virtuous life. (Melchert & Morrow, 2019) Aristotle also provides the answer to the question, “what is it to be happy?” He explains that there are various perceptions of it. Some individuals relate it with wealth, some with honor, and others with pleasure (Melchert & Morrow, 2019). Some end up associating it with the intellect by defining it abstractly.
In conclusion, for an individual to achieve happiness and improve their lives, they can apply the views of hedonism, Plato and Aristotle. This can be done in several ways, such as having principles and balance. Individuals may find themselves happy by enforcing principles and learning from their mistakes when they are in a mess. Another way to attain happiness is by balancing and reaching a middle ground in everything as they try to achieve happiness. For instance, an individual should not do something in excess or deficient. Individuals also have to live in the present or fall somewhere between the past and the present and not dwell too much on the future or the present since it can make one unhappy. Last but not least, individuals should try to be contented and live with what they have. Goals should always be centered on what one has to avoid struggling to attain a high target as it makes individuals upset whenever they are unable to reach the set goals.
Reference
Melchert, N., & Morrow, D. (2019). The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.