Eudaimonia

Iyad Ali Mr. Joy Ethics 7 December 2015 Aristotle on Happiness Aristotle is a proponent of living a life of contemplation. A life of contemplation, according to Aristotle, is essentially a life of happiness (Aristotle 5). A life of happiness is the final end of human action. All human action aims at some good. One can see human action in common society directed at various ends, such as pleasure, honor, or virtue (Aristotle 7). The ultimate end at which human action is faced must be…

I want to inform you about a few things that I learned about happiness in political philosophy this semester. Since you’ve asked me what political philosophy is, I’ll start out by explaining that. In a very general sense, political philosophy is trying to answer the question of how we ought to live in society as human beings. At the beginning the year, I asked you what you thought happiness was (hoping you could give me some ideas for my first essay to be written on it), and neither of us could…

Does money equate to happiness? Just because the world says something is true, does not mean it is. In today’s society it is common for one to say “If only I were rich, then I would be happy.”, but that claim is simply not true. Yes, money does offer opportunity that can potentially lead to positive, happy experiences, but money itself, and the love of money, do not equal happiness. Being wealthy is not the same as being happy, and although it is possible that a wealthy person is happy, there…

It’s the year 2016, and the soon-to-be graduates from UIUC sit in the auditorium, all dressed up in their suits and dresses donning their graduation caps and robes. As Carrie Reil chatted excitedly with her friends, she can’t help but feel sad that college was ending. She managed to get through these four tough years of her life, but as she looked back, she could only smile about what had happened. All the moments with her friends, her teacher, her family, and even her cat! But as she was handed…

Buy Experiences, Not Things James Hamblin’s article”Buy Experience, Not things” elucidates how instead of buying something to make people happy, experiences are what contributes to true happiness because people cherish moment to moment memories, they live in anticipation, and they are less likely to measure the value of their experiences by comparing them to those of others. Given the evidence, Hamblin first uses the point that happiness can be true by cherishing moment-to moment memories.…

Sam Burns states, “I surround myself with people that I want to be with and I keep moving forward.” In other words Burns focuses on the good things he has not on the bad. Darrin Mcmahon and Sam burns have a similar perspective on happiness, Mcmahon believes people should not focus on their happiness and just live life. Furthermore, Money doesn't buy happiness, it comes from spending time with your loved ones and being yourself. According the Mcmahon, Money isn't the key to happiness. Happiness…

1. By claiming happiness is “the final end,” Aristotle means that it is an end in itself rather than a means to another end. According to Aristotle, happiness is the only end or good that we desire for its own sake, and it is for the sake of happiness that we desire all other ends or goods. For example, one pursues everything (pleasure, knowledge, honour) for its own sake and for the sake of happiness. For Aristotle, happiness is an activity of the human soul in accordance with excellence and…

Shiny Happy People People believe that in order to achieve happiness they must surround themselves with pointless material goods and children to carry on their legacy, leading instead to an empty life. Such people ignore the philosophy of life and the soul’s true desire, as taught by philosophers such as Epictetus in his manual, The Art of Living. The character of Ivan Ilyich in The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy is no exception. Ivan Ilyich represents a life in which happiness is not…

At the modern time, Money is an energy and essential for a life, and could purchase everything, but sometime money can’t buy a true love and it defines the existence of human society as we cannot live without it.. In fact, if we have no money, we won’t spend for our life. Money is as well as blood in our body, in contrast, the Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being, defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Many people believe that money…

James Hamblin utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to effectively argue that experience rather than material possessions brings true happiness. He begins by providing statistics pertaining a wondering mind and the negative effects it can have on our mental status. According to psychologist Matthew Killingsworth “it is not good for [ones’] well-being to have a wandering mind” (Hamblin, James, 2014, para. 1). Daniel Gilbert claims “a wandering mind is an unhappy mind” Hamblin continues to discuss the…