Epicurus's Letter To Menoeceus

In which, utilitarianism introduces the idea that “one should maximize pleasure and minimize pain for all parties involves in a decision” (Leib slide 12). To summarize, this concept states that there should be “the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people” (Palmer 273). This philosophical view makes the most sense in today’s society by eliminating things that cause pain away from

Martin Seligman’s Positive Psychology Fun versus Philanthropy reflective essay Introduction: In this reflective essay, a number of aspects of happiness and well-being, as well as questions relating to Martin Seligman’s task. Firstly, an explanations of the doctrine will be examined. Then, the relation between fun and the philanthropy will be discussed. To sum up, the question whether happiness is everything.

Although happiness comes in different forms such as, monetary fulfilment, emotional containment, materialism etc., the pursuit of conquering these satisfactions is to attain pleasure and happiness in the end. Even in religious belief, like buddhism, the goal of achieving enlightenment, which is the state of being satisfied and fulfilled mentally, physically and emotionally, is the end goal. In no way that any individual will, consciously or subconsciously, chose to be unhappy. Thus, happiness is the rule of life

Socrates learned from Diotima that love is a kind of neediness that can only be fully satisfied by a good, by a kind of happiness that is never fleeting, that is permanent – which is the form of beauty. For beings like us, who are mortal, this means that love looks to stretch out beyond ourselves, beyond our own life. A central part of love, an aspect of love itself, is some aspiration to live on beyond the bounds of our mortality – hence the intrinsic features of unchanging, absolute, and separate of which Diotima

In Book 3 of his book “The Consolation of Philosophy,” he states that money and riches are poisonous and explicitly declares attributes that come along with them, such as honor and wealth, as harmful and inadequate to true happiness. To him, a person that does not have, is better off than a person that does. His logic follows the concept of attachment. Those who do not have money, are not attached to it, and those who have money will be overwhelmed with

While many disagree with Machiavelli’s points about what makes a good leader, I find them favorable. While leaders during this time were expected to please everyone, Machiavelli makes the point that it is not possible to do so. One argument he makes is “A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily

In “The Whistle,” a short essay by Benjamin Franklin, he emphasizes that many people sacrifice desirable pleasures to achieve a false happiness. He conveys this message by illustrating people who only care about popularity and people who are willing to do anything for an adventure. One type of person who sacrificed desirable pleasures to achieve a false happiness and personal worth is the person who neglects everything else to gain popularity. As a child, Franklin made the mistake of giving all his money for a whistle that temporarily satisfied him, but later caused him to realize that he had payed too much for it. As Franklin grew older, he began to observe how other people also “gave too much for their whistles.”

This is why we take various actions, to ensure enough outer goods to obtain health, leisure time and the ability to have virtue in our lifespan. Furthermore, another point Aristotle emphasizes, is that moral virtue is located somewhere between extremes and deficiency. That’s where the Greek saying “παν μετρον αριστον” comes from, meaning everything is good but don’t over or under do it. Keep everything in moderation, except virtue. Aristotle believes that no human ‘will’ is bad, if it can be controlled by reasoning based on moral principles.

The pursuit of happiness is defined as an individual and collective activity. Given that philosophers defined happiness as an issue that precedes morality in life, it is important that an individual consistently seek to exude happiness. For this reason, the use of drugs as a substitute and means of being happy is a flawed and often completely misguided of what it means to be happy (Haybron, 2011). It is important that virtue motivate the motivation of personal happiness. Exuding empathy, kindness and gratitude are some of the approaches that are likely to realize collective personal happiness.

Finally, happiness can be experienced through actions that give a person meaning. Meaning is a route to happiness that comes from something larger than ourselves; something family or justice and satisfies the desire to have a purpose in life (Seligman et al.

Glaucon states that all goods can be divided into three classes: things we desire for consequences, like medical treatment; and things that we desire only for our own sake, such as joy; and, the highest class, things we desire both for their own sake and what we can get from them, like knowledge, sight, and health. Glaucon wants Socrates to prove his point that justice is not only desirable, but that it belongs to the highest class of desirable things, that are desired both for their own sake and for their own consequences. Justice is from human weakness and vulnerability, and since we can all suffer from each other’s injustices, we tend to make a social contract agreeing to be just to one another. We suffer the burden of justice because we know that we could suffer worse without it. Justice is not something that is practiced on its own, but something one does out of fear and weakness.”

We all are just trying to find ourselves in the world, but we buy things thinking they will give us happiness. When that is not the case it just makes us feel emptier. The society is brainwashed into thinking we need something when we really just want it. We just get drowned in the advertisement that “more is good.” Morrie informs Mitch never to buy into this, and to form his own