Happiness: Are We There Yet?

Fortunately, for me anyway, this was the best semester to take this class! Many times, I sat outside reading the assigned books when the sun was shining, and there was wind in the trees...all those wonderful outdoor feelings. It was on those beautiful days that I could find peace, and pleasure, within the words. But they also raised so many questions in my head which resulted in more Googling and mind-madness than should be allowed! So why did we take this class? Were we looking for answers on how to achieve it for ourselves? Were we looking to discover other methods of achieving it? Were we just wondering how these dead men found it, and wanting to celebrate it with/for them? Why do they make it seem like it is so hard to find a “bliss”? Or do they just prove that it is different for each of us, and for us to see that, awakens in us the realization that it is true...that we are all unique. Talking with several of you, we agreed that the philosophers discussed were some pretty depressed men. Why then are they our advisors on how to be happy? Are they the prime examples of moving beyond depression (did they?), or are they all making a more blatant statement to “get over ourselves”? Happiness A Very Short Introduction was, in my opinion, the perfect book to start with. It is short and sweet! (I think I am going to give copies to friends as Christmas gifts!) I also think it sums up that the two most important parts for happiness and a good life are well-being and virtue. A win-win! Most in class agreed that to do good towards/for others results in feeling well inside ourselves. Why is that so hard to understand...or do? Did you do something good for someone else today? Wait, do not tell! That takes away from doing good. Be like Nike! Just Do It!!”

Then to end with Sick Souls, Healthy Minds, and other readings of William James was the mic drop! The one who is considered the “father of American Psychology,” spins it into developing Pragmatism. The Pursuit of Happiness.org states it as he felt that “good philosophy is what improved the psychological health of a person.” His basic idea is that happiness, like everything else, is a choice. It is all in the mind, and how we use it. Now, add to James the five principles of the Stoics (Do not worry about what you cannot control; Focus on what you can; Think about death; Want less; Keep life simple), which are keeping the mind busy, and you come out with John Lachs! His book, Stoic Pragmatism, is about his thoughts of how we must do good for the whole, but still realize that there will be losses, of thoughts and life, making for the combination of the two forms of philosophy. In a review of the book, Matthew Caleb Flamm says: “He identifies three ways that the discipline in its professional structure discourages ‘engagement with the broader public.’ Preferring argument over knowledge of current affairs and facts, incentivizing and rewarding technical obtuseness and obfuscation, and the misconceived categorization of philosophy alongside physics and anthropology, and/or science-directed inquiries that unfairly pit philosophy against more empirically-grounded rivals: all three of these, Lachs argues, account for the retreat of philosophy into the Ivory tower and its abandonment of the traditional role as the critic of our beliefs and practices.” There is a great video of Lachs speaking at Vanderbilt, which I could not get to upload here, but the long link is at the bottom! 

[Did your first link for you gratis, just click the "Insert or Edit Link" icon above... And here's the video. Just click the "Insert Video" icon above and paste that long address.]

Please give it a watch! As Madea might say, “Oh Lort, I think I may be a stoic pragmatist!” (Maybe this book should be added to the reading list next time?! This would be an even better mic drop!)

Can you see now what I meant in the beginning when I said I just come up with more questions?! (Remember when I asked questions about Montaigne’s “turn” and how perhaps he had died and come back!) Yep! Sometimes my questions seem crazy, but as Dr. Oliver suggested we continue to do, I am still asking. That will not stop...thankfully! While, in many ways, I enjoyed being a “fly on the wall” watching the videos of the class, I hated being blindfolded! A friend, who is also a professor, told me that while being in grad school, “your job is to stand outside of conversations and watch them, looking for holes and critiques. There is no politics (necessarily) here - no democrat or republican. Your job is to see the ideas and figure out what is there and what isn't.”

So, for this class, I learned to recognize several voices, but not seeing your faces while you spoke (other than during your presentations), still was disconcerting. But I felt I could not attend class. I have Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer (and a few other health issues that resulted from chemo and radiation) and am uncomfortable being in a closed space with many I do not know with all that is out there, germs-wise! But do not think this makes me unhappy! Nor do I think about death all the time! That I will not do. I am a big believer in the idea of self-fulfilling prophecies. I plan to live forever...with questions coming at me all the time and from all directions! Life is about searching for the answers! Let us hope we all can find at least some of them! Go out there and be happy! I still refuse to be anything but!

Don't be a Dylan!