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, November 27, 2023

Questions Nov 28

Concluding 4,000 Weeks... See audio review link for Dec.5 exam below... Final draft of final report blogpost due Dec.10. Don't forget to add links etc.*

  1. Have you found Burkeman's message of life's finitude, brevity, and imperfectability helpful, in thinking about what it might mean to live a happy, purposeful, meaningful, good life? How would you summarize that message and its practical application to your life? 
  2. Looking back over all our texts (Happiness: A Very Short Introduction, Epicurus, The Good Life, Against Happiness, 4,000 Weeks) what total message do you take away from the course? And what other texts would you recommend we read next time this course is offered?
  3. What does it mean to "enter space and time completely"? 218 Have you? Will you?
  4. How would you answer any of Burkeman's Five Questions? 220-27
  5. What do you think of Jung's advice to Frau V.? 227-8
  6. Do you agree with Burkeman's definition of hope? 230 Does it sound to much like resignation? Or do you define hope as I do: modest confidence that our efforts to ameliorate the human condition may not be wholly futile? Or do you propose a different definition?
  7. Will you commit to Orwell's perspective? Do you resolve to enjoy your life, come what may? 234
  8. What's your answer to Cousin Mary's question at the end of The Summer Day
  9. Which of Burkeman's Ten Tools do you, or will you, use?v 235-45. Do you have any better ones?
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*How to add links, embed videos etc. in final report posts (post early drafts at will, final draft due Dec.10)--

To insert links:
1. Highlight a word or phrase in your text
2. Click on the link icon
3. Paste the URL address of the site or passage you want to link to
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Videos: in Blogger, after clicking on "New Post"--
1. Copy the URL of the video you want to share.
2. Click on "More options" on the far right of the toolbar above, then Insert Video icon (3d from left)
3. Select YouTube
4. Select Search 5. Paste the URL & Select it
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To insert graphics, either just copy-&-paste... OR, click on the "insert image" icon (to the right of the link icon, to the left of the "insert video" icon) and select the appropriate option
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To embed Google Books pages:
1. Find the book you want to embed.
2. Select Preview
3. Select (click on) the page you want to embed.
4. Click More Actions (the three vertical dots in the upper right)
5. Select Embed (unless you just want to link the page)
6. Copy the code
7. In edit mode on blogger, select the pen icon in the upper left and click on HTML view
8. Paste the code
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Familiarize yourself with the edit icons in the drop-down menu (link, insert image, insert video, etc.) Always make sure, after you Publish, that the formatting is correct on the blogsite. If not, click More options (the three horizontal dots in the upper right) and then Clear Formatting on the far right (the T with a diagonal slash).

2 comments:

  1. 2. Looking back over all our texts (Happiness: A Very Short Introduction, Epicurus, The Good Life, Against Happiness, 4,000 Weeks) what total message do you take away from the course? And what other texts would you recommend we read next time this course is offered?

    I think an important theme of this class has been quality relationships: this was explored both scientifically with The Good Life, and philosophically with the other texts like Epicurus. I've been examining my own relationships more closely, my partners and my friends and if these relationships are providing what we've discussed.
    This class made me explore Nietzsche much more closely, with me realizing that his philosophy is a life-affirming one: one of strength and perseverance rather than the layman understanding of Nietzsche as a pessimist. The Gay Science is a text on happiness in some ways. I also noticed that a thinker that has been brought up a couple times in class, Schopenhauer, maybe provides an inverse perspective on happiness. It's interesting to counter the positive texts of this class with an opposite perspective: one of pain and boredom. There is something to learn from those enthralled in unhappiness. I find the War in Ukraine or the genocidal conflict in Gaza to provide perspective on happiness too. Utter misery and pain reveal something about happiness, or at the least what causes unhappiness. Exploring unhappiness may provide an even more complete understanding of happiness for this class. In an age of increased alienation and depressiveness, what can we learn from pain?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very interesting thought, that the course could deliberately approach happiness through the back door. We could begin with Schopenhauer's declaration: “What disturbs and depresses young people is the hunt for happiness on the firm assumption that it must be met with in life. From this arises constantly deluded hope and so also dissatisfaction. Deceptive images of a vague happiness hover before us in our dreams, and we search in vain for their original. Much would have been gained if, through timely advice and instruction, young people could have had eradicated from their minds the erroneous notion that the world has a great deal to offer them.” Arthur Schopenhauer

      But the world DOES have a great deal to offer. It just doesn't promise to make good on it.

      Delete

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