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Plato's Concept Of Happiness And Happiness In Plato

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In all of Plato 's dialogues, Socrates ' main goal is to achieve happiness, although friends and foes alike present him pathways that could lead to pleasure, but not true happiness. Moreover, in Crito, Socrates pursues happiness by obediently following the Athenian law, whereas, Crito tries to lure him into committing an unjust action so that he can obtain the pleasure of having a friend and keeping a good reputation and so that Socrates can still have the pleasure of life on earth1. One can know that happiness and pleasure are different due to the fact that happiness is a state of being eternally fulfilled, but pleasure provides a person only an immediate and short-lived image of fulfillment.
If happiness is being eternally fulfilled, then it would not be of this world because this world has many flaws and is mortal. Therefore, happiness must be achieved through divine powers that allow us to become eternally fulfilled in life after death. However, pleasure can be of this world because it brings us moments of fulfillments instantly and then dies away quickly because pleasure is flawed because it is of this world and requires no divine power or god to obtain this short-lived image of fulfillment. Leonard Katz, states that pleasure is always directed to satisfy the needs of one 's self and as long as one 's own needs are met pleasure is achieved2. However, happiness, mentioned by Dan Haybron, requires one to seek the needs of others rather than their own needs in order to be

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