PHIL 3160 – Philosophy of Happiness

What is it, how can we best pursue it, why should we? Supporting the study of these and related questions at Middle Tennessee State University and beyond. "Examining the concept of human happiness and its application in everyday living as discussed since antiquity by philosophers, psychologists, writers, spiritual leaders, and contributors to pop culture."

Monday, September 13, 2021

Happy & free

Freedom and/or free will seem to me inseparable from the pursuit of happiness, though philosophers like Boethius and Spinoza seem to have a different notion. But aren't we glad those 9/11 heroes weren't stoic determinists!

LISTEN. A good night's sleep, especially after a bad one, is restorative. Of perspective, and cheer, and gratitude. I got one last night. Thank goodness, or just good fortune.  Either way, acknowledging and expressing gratitude is itself restorative, as I heard A.J. Jacobs saying in the middle of the night Saturday on my smart speaker when (I hypothesize) our Ubered Paneer Masala wasn't sitting quite right. Among the wise insights he shared with TED was the Jamesian psychology he paraphrased: it's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than the reverse. Maybe that's how Augustine of Hippo finally consummated his conversion and stopped acting licentiously...  (continues)

6 comments:

  1. Well it is better to be happy or free? Because sometimes I feel like you can never be free. I may be wrong…please correct me. You can never be free with anything.

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    1. Free of worry, free of fear, free to enjoy the finite time of your life without frivolous distraction... that's Epicurean happiness, and it aims to evade the dichotomy you've posed. You CAN be freer, the more you escape from worry and fear.

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  2. Happiness in and of itself is a momentary emotion. We can choose to pursue happiness, as it should be an active pursuit, but happiness is reliant on a causation. We can try our best to try to cause our happiness, but again, it is dependent on events that lead up to our momentary expression. Should we strive for this? Absolutely. However, happiness is not a choice, we are not totally free to choose it because it relies on exterior or even interior factors that are beyond us. Our own brains may prohibit our desire for happiness, and therefore, we are prohibited from the choice of being happy.

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    1. Again: happiness as conceived by Epicureans is no mere emotion, it is a state of mind and heart that frees us to enjoy life while we have the opportunity to do so. We may be unable totally to control "exterior or even interior factors" but, unlike the Stoics, the Epicureans are keen to explore the limits of our powers to deconstruct fear and worry. The attempted deconstruction, they think, IS a choice we can make. At least they're up for trying, not surrendering to fear and anxiety.

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You don’t need a pill: Neo

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness True happiness is... to enjoy the present, without anxious dependen...