Happiness, Goodness & Justice PDF

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HAPPINESS REFLECTION (EPICURUS BACKGROUND)
700 word reflection on the lecture material with reference - Epicurus was the chosen theory...

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47130644_Happiness (Epicurus)

Happiness is a sense of wellbeing, contentment, or an emotional state of fulfilment. How one perceives happiness depends on their perspectives and life choices, one size fits all does not apply for how this emotion is received. I personally identify happiness with the idea of pleasure that one receives from an act of altruism as my driving factor. Example of this can be seen as helping the elderly with chores, helping loved ones achieve goals, feeding the homeless, etc. I believe happiness is found within rather than short-term pleasures such as getting drunk.

Happiness can come in many ways depending on your likes and environment; for example, Happiness for me includes spending a whole day at the beach reading, being introverted as I can be away from the world. To someone else that might seem extremely painful, and they might prefer to be around friends at a social event which would bring them ultimate happiness. Pleasure is a strong connection and driving factor of why we seek happiness in society. If we ought to always feel happy, we must also remember the unspoken moral rules of respecting others around us. Seeking happiness does not include inflicting pain, it should be done without pain or harm to others.

To the ancient Greeks happiness was looked at differently. The word ‘eudaimonia' also translated as 'flourishing', is the feeling of happiness that the ancient Greeks refer to. During the time of the Epicurean era, ancient Greece was in a state of war and domination, leaving them with serious debates of what constitutes a good life. An Epicurean might suggest how we learn is through perceptions and sensations around us which in turn gives us empirical data of the world we live in. The starting point is sober thinking of the world around us and learning how to be rational with our thoughts (Warren, 2009). Epicureans also being consequentialists believe that to know what is bad or good which further indicates happiness in your life we must be skilled at rationality within ourselves.

47130644_Happiness (Epicurus)

(Hamilton. K, 2021) also indicates Epicurus' empiricist method which suggests that pain and pleasure seeking is the starting point and motivation for humans. We judge every good with the pleasure ‘feeling’ which in turn progresses this feeling of happiness. A psychological and ethical hedonistic example is interpreted in this statement made my Epicurus. His ethical hedonism promotes the pursuit of how to seek happiness and pleasure which should be the main goal (Cooper et al., 1998).

To further identify how pleasure results in happiness Epicurus has referred to the term ‘katastematic pleasure’. Which means freedom from pain and mental agitation. The pleasant life does not include drinking, partying, excessive sexual desires, and luxurious delicacies. The epicurean’s idea of happiness was not Kinetic pleasure but rather holistic pleasures. Kinetic pleasure is the external pleasures we seek such as eating and drinking, this pleasure was not the pleasure that Epicurus promoted (Hamilton. K, 2021).

Therefore, after further identifying the views of the ancient Greeks. Humans of today believe we can measure happiness from our dopamine levels, heart rates, and by how much materialistic wealth we obtain. Loneliness is even used as a scale to also measure forms of happiness in our society, whereas solitude is seen as a pleasure for the ancient Greeks followers of Epicurus. Arguing in favour of solitude, avoiding large social and political circles, spending time with only close friends (Cooper et al., 1998).

After describing the happiness that can be found within Epicurus’ understanding I have come to agree that I am a firm follower of the Epicurean perception of happiness. As mentioned in the start my idea of happiness was not through unnecessary desires such as kinetic pleasures but through receiving inner tranquillity (ataraxia) which refers to being content and seeking pleasure from the simple things in life.

Also noting that this idea of seeking simple pleasure is sometimes hard to find with younger generations and most humans seeking as much kinetic pleasure as possible; a short-term fix of happiness without thinking of the consequences the next day. Although many choose a quick term fix of pleasure, happiness can be found in simple pleasures which was mentioned earlier.

47130644_Happiness (Epicurus)

Reference list

1. Cooper, D., Arrington, R., & Rachels, J. (1998). Ethics (p. 2). Blackwell Publishers.

2. Cooper, D., Arrington, R., & Rachels, J. (1998). Ethics (p. 2). Blackwell Publishers.

3. Hamilton, K, 2021, ‘Happiness, Goodness, and Justice’, PHIL1032- Philosophy, Lecture 2 , slide 12 materials, semester 2, 2021, Macquarie university. https://echo360.org.au/lesson/190150e0-840a-407e-92b1-25c4d1e66b1b/classroom? focus=Video#sortDirection=desc

4. Hamilton. K, 2021, ‘Happiness, Goodness, and Justice’, PHIL1032- Philosophy, Lecture 2 slide 9 materials, semester 2, 2021, Macquarie university. https://echo360.org.au/lesson/190150e0-840a-407e-92b1-25c4d1e66b1b/classroom? focus=Video#sortDirection=desc

5. Warren, J. (2009). The Cambridge companion to epicureanism (p. 157). Cambridge University Press....