A Critique of Sharon Begley’s “Happiness: Enough Already”
Perhaps it’s safe to say most everyone in the deranged world that we live in today aims for happiness. We are simply slaves to our primal passions, shackled in our endless pursuit of fulfillments and shaping our existence around them. Gravitating towards the concepts in life that bring us pleasure, and recoiling away from those that could cause us pain. Several think of happiness as an overall end goal, while others consider happiness the starting point of being great. Nevertheless, happiness is drawn from different matters based off the individual.
My mom use to tell me her moments of happiness came by surprise, and that I should never work to seize those moments, rather I should wait …show more content…
“Happy Like God” by Simon Critchley is an article that would more so disagree with Begley and Kingwell when it comes to overworking happiness. Critchley compares happiness to God, and progresses to clarify to be like god you must be without time, and be free of troubles and the passions of the soul (561). You must be yourself, and be free of all your worries and doubts before happiness can come and overtake those original emotions of hesitation and fear. Critchley emphasizes “Happiness is not quantitative or measurable and it is not the object of any science, old or new” (560). Being content with life should not be something measured by a scale of your happiness level because a lot of times a person does not realize they are happy until after that moment of peace. Kingwell agrees with this viewpoint of not measuring happiness because once it is measured, it can make an individual realize they are not pleased with life. Critchley reiterates “...happiness is this feeling of existence, this sentiment of momentary self sufficiency that is bound up with the experience of time” (560). If a person accomplishes a difficult task they thought would virtually be impossible, then they will appear content as a result of solid work and belief in oneself. This viewpoint Critchley delivers disagrees with Begley and Kingwell; rather than thinking happiness comes naturally, …show more content…
I agree with certain components Begley presents, but Begley doesn’t hit on self love and more focuses on relationships with other people rather than oneself. I do agree stronger forms of happiness come from relationships with other people, but I don't think that it brings an individual the highest level of happiness possible. Based on my own experience I wasn’t able to proceed in life, as far as mental health and stability, until I came to terms with myself and decided self love is more important than any judgment another individual could have upon me. Yes, friends and family can bring so much love and care in a person’s life, but ultimately how can you be joyful without the approval of yourself? The impact other people have on someone’s life can be positive, but it can also be negative. I am one that doesn’t trust easily due to the simple fact that a person can put up a poker face, but also have other intentions. Begley’s article would benefit if she touched more on self love and sufficiency rather than relying on other people for your happiness. Critchley emphasizes this point well in the article by implying self sufficiency and time will give an individual a feeling of existence and
Perhaps it’s safe to say most everyone in the deranged world that we live in today aims for happiness. We are simply slaves to our primal passions, shackled in our endless pursuit of fulfillments and shaping our existence around them. Gravitating towards the concepts in life that bring us pleasure, and recoiling away from those that could cause us pain. Several think of happiness as an overall end goal, while others consider happiness the starting point of being great. Nevertheless, happiness is drawn from different matters based off the individual.
My mom use to tell me her moments of happiness came by surprise, and that I should never work to seize those moments, rather I should wait …show more content…
“Happy Like God” by Simon Critchley is an article that would more so disagree with Begley and Kingwell when it comes to overworking happiness. Critchley compares happiness to God, and progresses to clarify to be like god you must be without time, and be free of troubles and the passions of the soul (561). You must be yourself, and be free of all your worries and doubts before happiness can come and overtake those original emotions of hesitation and fear. Critchley emphasizes “Happiness is not quantitative or measurable and it is not the object of any science, old or new” (560). Being content with life should not be something measured by a scale of your happiness level because a lot of times a person does not realize they are happy until after that moment of peace. Kingwell agrees with this viewpoint of not measuring happiness because once it is measured, it can make an individual realize they are not pleased with life. Critchley reiterates “...happiness is this feeling of existence, this sentiment of momentary self sufficiency that is bound up with the experience of time” (560). If a person accomplishes a difficult task they thought would virtually be impossible, then they will appear content as a result of solid work and belief in oneself. This viewpoint Critchley delivers disagrees with Begley and Kingwell; rather than thinking happiness comes naturally, …show more content…
I agree with certain components Begley presents, but Begley doesn’t hit on self love and more focuses on relationships with other people rather than oneself. I do agree stronger forms of happiness come from relationships with other people, but I don't think that it brings an individual the highest level of happiness possible. Based on my own experience I wasn’t able to proceed in life, as far as mental health and stability, until I came to terms with myself and decided self love is more important than any judgment another individual could have upon me. Yes, friends and family can bring so much love and care in a person’s life, but ultimately how can you be joyful without the approval of yourself? The impact other people have on someone’s life can be positive, but it can also be negative. I am one that doesn’t trust easily due to the simple fact that a person can put up a poker face, but also have other intentions. Begley’s article would benefit if she touched more on self love and sufficiency rather than relying on other people for your happiness. Critchley emphasizes this point well in the article by implying self sufficiency and time will give an individual a feeling of existence and