Philosophy of Happiness
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The philosophy of happiness is the philosophical concern with the existence, nature, and attainment of happiness. Philosophers believe, happiness can be understood as the moral goal of life or as an aspect of chance; indeed, in most European languages the term happiness is synonymous with luck.[1] Thus, philosophers usually explicate on happiness as either a state of mind, or a life that goes well for the person leading it.[2]
Ancient Greece
Plato
We have proved that justice in itself is the best thing for the soul itself, and that the soul ought to do justice…— Plato, The Republic[3]
Aristotle
Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE) held that eudaimonia is the goal of human thought and action. Eudaimonia is usually translated as happiness, but “human flourishing” may be a more accurate translation.[6] Eudaimonia involves activity, exhibiting virtue (arete, Greek: ἀρετή) in accordance with virtue.Within the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle points to the fact that many aims are really only intermediate aims, and are desired only because they make the achievement of higher aims possible.[7] Therefore, things such as wealth, intelligence, and courage are valued only in relation to other things, while eudaimonia is the only thing valuable in isolation.Aristotle regarded virtue as necessary for a person to be happy and held that without virtue the most that may be attained is contentment. Aristotle has been criticized for failing to show that virtue is necessary in the way he claims it to be, and he does not address this moral skepticism.[8]
Cynicism
Main article: Cynicism (philosophy)

The carved busts of Socrates, Antisthenes, Chrysippus, and Epicurus.
Cyrenaicism
As a consequence the sage, even if he has his troubles, will nonetheless be happy, even if few pleasures accrue to him.— Diogenes Laertius on Anniceris[13][14]
“He recommended that one should concrete on the present day, and indeed on the very part of it in which one is acting and thinking. For only the present, he said, truly belongs to us, and not what has passed by or what we are anticipating: for the one is gone and done with, and it is uncertain whether the other will come to be”[17]
Some immediate pleasures can create more than their equivalent of pain. The wise person should be in control of pleasures rather than be enslaved to them, otherwise pain will result, and this requires judgement to evaluate the different pleasures of life.[18]
Pyrrhonism
Epicureanism
Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is friendship.— Epicurus[19]

A papyrus copy depicting the Epicurean tetrapharmakos in Philodemus of Gadara’s Adversus Sophistas – (P.Herc.1005), col. 5
“Do not fear god,
Do not worry about death;
What is good is easy to get, and
What is terrible is easy to endure.”
(Philodemus, Herculaneum Papyrus, 1005, 4.9–14).[20]
Stoicism
If you work at that which is before you, following right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract you, but keeping your divine part pure, as if you were bound to give it back immediately; if you hold to this, expecting nothing, but satisfied to live now according to nature, speaking heroic truth in every word that you utter, you will live happy. And there is no man able to prevent this.— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations[21]
Ancient Rome
School of the Sextii
The School of the Sextii was founded by Quintus Sextius the Elder (fl. 50 BCE). It characterized itself mainly as a philosophical-medical school, blending Pythagorean, Platonic, Cynic, and Stoic elements together.[24] They argued that to achieve happiness, one ought to be vegetarian, have nightly examinations of conscience, and avoid both consumerism and politics,[25] and believe that an elusive incorporeal power pervades the body.[24]
Augustine of Hippo
Nevertheless, to praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.— St. Augustine, Confessions.[26
The happy life is joy based on the truth. This is joy grounded in you, O God, who are the truth.— St. Augustine, Confessions.[27]
Boethius
Mortal creatures have one overall concern. This they work at by toiling over a whole range of pursuits, advancing on different paths, but striving to attain the one goal of happiness.— Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy.[32]
Middle Ages
Avicenna
Main article: Avicenna
Al-Ghazali
Maimonides
Main article: Maimonides
Maimonides (c. 1135-1204) was a Jewish philosopher and astronomer,[43] who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars and physicians.[44] He writes that happiness is ultimately and essentially intellectual.[45]
Thomas Aquinas
God is happiness by His Essence: for He is happy not by acquisition or participation of something else, but by His Essence.
— St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica[46]
Early Modern
Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a French philosopher. Influenced by Aristotelianism and Christianity, alongside the conviction of the separation of public and private spheres of life, Montaigne writes that happiness is a subjective state of mind and that satisfaction differs from person to person.[52] He continues by acknowledging that one must be allowed a private sphere of life to realize those particular attempts of happiness without the interference of society.[52]
Jeremy Bentham
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German philosopher. His philosophy express that egotistical acts are those that are guided by self-interest, desire for pleasure or happiness, whereas only compassion can be a moral act.Schopenhauer explains happiness in terms of a wish that is satisfied, which in turn gives rise to a new wish. And the absence of satisfaction is suffering, which results in an empty longing. He also links happiness with the movement of time, as we feel happy when time moves faster and feel sad when time slows down.
Contemporary
Władysław Tatarkiewicz
Władysław Tatarkiewicz (1886-1980) was a Polish philosopher, historian of philosophy, historian of art, esthetician, and ethicist. For Tatarkiewicz, happiness is a fundamental ethical category.
Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979) was a German-American philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory.In his 1937 essay ‘The Affirmative Character of Culture,’ he suggests culture develops tension within the structure of society, and in that tension can challenge the current social order. If it separates itself from the everyday world, the demand for happiness will cease to be external, and begin to become an object of spiritual contemplation. In the One-Dimensional Man, his criticism of consumerism suggests that the current system is one that claims to be democratic, but is authoritarian in character, as only a few individuals dictate the perceptions of freedom by only allowing certain choices of happiness to be available for purchase. He further suggests that the conception that ‘happiness can be bought’ is one that is psychologically damaging.
Viktor Frankl
It is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to ‘be happy.’ But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to ‘be happy’.— Viktor Frankl
Robert Nozick
Scientism
Happiness research

The Satisfaction with Life Index
Happiness research is the quantitative and theoretical study of happiness, positive and negative affect, well-being, quality of life, life satisfaction and related concepts. It is especially influenced by psychologists, but also sociologists and economists have contributed. The tracking of Gross National Happiness or the satisfaction of life grow increasingly popular as the economics of happiness challenges traditional economic aims. Richard Layard has been very influential in this area. He has shown that mental illness is the main cause of unhappiness. Other, more influential researchers are Ed Diener, Ruut Veenhoven and Daniel Kahneman.
Sonja Lyubomirsky
Sonja Lyubomirsky asserted in her 2007 book, The How of Happiness, that happiness is 50 percent genetically determined (based on twin studies), 10 percent circumstantial, and 40 percent subject to self-control. Lyubomirsky suggests a twelve-point program to maximize the final 40 percent.
Cultures not seeking to maximise happiness
Not all cultures seek to maximise happiness, and some cultures are averse to happiness.
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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- Sonja Lyubomirsky, David Schkade and Kennon M. Sheldon, “Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change,” Review of General Psychology, Vol. 9, No. 2, 111–131, 2005
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- Hornsey, Matthew J.; Bain, Paul G.; Harris, Emily A.; Lebedeva, Nadezhda; Kashima, Emiko S.; Guan, Yanjun; González, Roberto; Chen, Sylvia Xiaohua; Blumen, Sheyla (2018). “How Much is Enough in a Perfect World? Cultural Variation in Ideal Levels of Happiness, Pleasure, Freedom, Health, Self-Esteem, Longevity, and Intelligence”(PDF). Psychological Science (Submitted manuscript). 29 (9): 1393–1404. doi:10.1177/0956797618768058. PMID29889603.
- See the work of Jeanne Tsai
- See Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_Happiness#Meaning_of_”happiness” ref. the meaning of the US Declaration of Independence phrase
- Joshanloo, Mohsen; Weijers, Dan (2014). “Aversion to Happiness Across Cultures: A Review of Where and Why People are Averse to Happiness”. Journal of Happiness Studies. 15 (3): 717–735. doi:10.1007/s10902-013-9489-9.
- “Study sheds light on how cultures differ in their happiness beliefs”.
- Also June Gruber http://www.gruberpeplab.com/people.php#directorsuggests that seeking happiness can have negative effects, such as failed over-high expectations, http://gruberpeplab.com/research.php and instead advocates a more open stance to all emotions. https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2018/jul/20/the-dark-side-of-happiness-science-weekly-podcast Other research has analysed possible trade-offs between happiness and meaning in life.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2013.830764https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439760.2015.1117129?src=recsyshttps://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-differences-between-happiness-and-meaning-in-life/
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