Eudaimonia

Happiness can be defined as feeling or showing pleasure or contentment, but what does that really mean? For someone of great fame and fortune, their definition might be completely different from someone who comes from poverty. In today's world it is so hard to truly know whether someone is happy or just showing out for social normalities or to look a certain way for someone. I ask myself whether or not I am truly happy with the life I have lived so far and what it really means to be happy. My…

In Nichomachean Ethics Aristotle seeks to answer what the purpose of human existence is. To do this he looks to find an end point to the things we do, something that is sought after only for itself, not for what it gets us. Through this definition he asserts that happiness is the final good of human life; “Verbally there is very general agreement; for both the general run of men and people of superior refinement say that it is happiness.”(Aristotle 1730) Aristotle claims that all men agree…

“Money doesn’t buy happiness.” That’s what the people prior to us tell us, the next generation, but they tell us as they are sitting in their paid off Ford F150 with their fancy new iPhone watch and college tuition loans paid off. Because they are done, they have no daily stresses because they have “made it” in the real world. The rest of us, not the 99% not swimming in pools of diamonds, but the rest of us middle classers, 50% of Americans (Thuy Vo 2012), bring home less than 1,000 dollars a…

Career It’s said that only about five percent of people choose the right career the first time. That’s five percent; out of how many people in the world? I don’t know about you, but that sure makes me feel a little better about choosing my career, but at the same time makes it a little scarier. If you’re like me and have no idea what you want to do, it’s also one of the most stressful things. All I know is I want to be happy. I favor my own happiness over making a ton of money any day.…

“I am lucky” is an understatement to describe my life. There are no words to describe how lucky I am to have the life I do. Although everyone is lucky to be living, I feel as though I am just a little luckier. There are people living on the streets without comfort of a home or a loving family. I am blessed to have both of those things, and even more. The purpose of this reflection is not to brag about how lucky I am to have the life I do, the purpose is to gain personal recognition of all that I…

According to Ted Talks online video, “Want to be happier? Stay in the moment,” guest speaker, Matt Killingsworth, begins by saying that the reason we desire extravagant objects is to achieve happiness. He continues to explain that happiness is the outcome of living in the moment. Next, Killingsworth explains that people are much happier when they are focused rather than when they are mind wandering. He goes on to further describe the relationship between mind wandering and unhappiness; and…

Aristotle claimed that the concept of possessing good in life was necessary for happiness: “some are necessary conditions while others are naturally useful and cooperative as instruments.” (Nicomachean Ethics 1099b28-29). He further explains that “having friends seems to be the greatest external good” (Nicomachean Ethics 9.9.1169b10-11). Friendship can be used to achieve this external good for it is deemed a virtuous action which is considered necessary for achieving the desired happiness that…

"Happy was the way we were meant to be" (McMahon, 2005). As simple and straightforward it might sound like, "happiness" is considerably one of the most debated and scandalous word that exists on the surface of Mother Earth. In the modern arena of this complicated world, filled with its convoluted individuals, defining happiness is a really breathtaking task. Surely, an extensive amount of regular people works every day like thirsty dogs to get a bit of markup in their salary which might allow…

We humans need a lot to survive in this world, but we also really want a lot in this world. We all want to enjoy the good times and forget the bad times and that is why we think that it’s really important to play instead of doing anything else. Time goes by faster when you are doing something you love. You are driven every morning waking up to do some work, but without some hobbies to cool you down, you can really just break. My goal of this paper is to provide you with evidence that happiness…

We all tend to be happy in our lives. Some people compare happiness with factors like money, social status etc. while some mean satisfaction by happiness. I personally feel that it is our desires that control our happiness and these desires if controlled can lead to positive feelings like satisfaction. It has been rightly said, “Satisfaction is the death of desire.” Out of the four accounts that we covered, I would select the views of the Epicurean and the Stoic accounts for the description of…