What is happiness? Zhou Guoping

What is happiness?

1) Happiness is the ultimate goal of all human actions

Aristotle. Original words: Happiness is the ultimate goal of all human actions. We always choose it just for its own sake. It is for it that all people do other things. It expresses three meanings: 1. Happiness is what everyone wants, and no one does not want happiness; 2. Happiness itself is a good thing, and we want it because of itself; 3. Only happiness is the ultimate goal, and nothing else Everything is a means.

So Aristotle said: People do not choose happiness, because there is no choice on whether to be happy or not. People only choose the means to achieve happiness. You want to go into business because you think doing business will make you happy. He chose to join politics because he believed that joining politics would make him happy. My daughter was recently admitted to both Columbia University and NYU Tisch School. Columbia trains scholars and NYU Tisch trains artists. She finally decided to go to NYU because she thinks being an artist is happier than being a scholar. Her dad was a scholar and I believe she learned her lessons from him.

Happiness is something that everyone wants, so what is happiness? The word happiness is used by us to refer to a very satisfying state of life. But what kind of life is deeply satisfying? It seems that everyone has a different opinion, which raises a question -

2) Is happiness just a subjective feeling?

Many people think this way, saying that happiness is just a personal subjective feeling, as long as you feel satisfied. This certainly makes sense. If a person is dissatisfied with his life and feels unhappy, you certainly cannot say he is happy. But does it mean that you are happy when you feel happy? There is a kind of ecstatic delusional patient who is cheerful all day long and is happier than anyone else. You wouldn't call him a happy person. Someone has created a virtual device called a happy experience box. When you enter it, put on your seat belt, and connect the electrodes, you will get a variety of intense happy experiences, not only sensory happiness, such as tasting various delicacies, but also lifelike adventures and affairs, such as falling in love with beautiful women. You may be willing to experience it, but are you willing to live in it for a long time? Definitely not willing. It can be seen that subjective feeling is a necessary condition for happiness, but it is not a sufficient condition.

In imagination, people always regard the realization of their strongest wishes as happiness. However, wishes vary from person to person, and the wishes of the same person also vary from time to time. Let me tell you a joke: Once, I had a minor operation. Due to the anesthesia, I had difficulty urinating after the operation. I stood in front of the urinal. I was bloated with urine, but I couldn't pass it out. The gentleman next to me was peeing smoothly. At that time, guess what I was thinking? What I thought was: This guy is so happy. Soon I will be able to pee too, but will I feel happy about it? Of course not. This example is ridiculous, but it illustrates the problem. People are often like this: when they don't get something, they miss it terribly, but when they get it, it's just like that, and the expected happiness will be greatly reduced. Therefore, it is difficult to find people in the world who truly think they are happy.

So, is happiness completely an objective state? You must have seen such a person. He has external conditions that many people envy, but he himself does not feel happy. Therefore, no matter how good the external conditions are, if they are not transformed into inner experience and mood, it will not be happiness.

So, the correct statement is that happiness is the unity of subjective feelings and objective states.

3) Is happiness equal to happiness?

On the issue of happiness, there is a popular view that happiness is happiness, and happiness is the satisfaction of physical desires. In response to this view, Socrates raised a question: Are people who tickle their whole life happy? He raised this issue in a debate. The opponent in the debate was a man named Callicles. The debate unfolded like this-

Calicles first expressed an opinion , he said: The satisfaction of desires is the greatest happiness, satisfying desires to the fullest is happiness, and you can do whatever it takes to satisfy desires.

After hearing what he said, Socrates said: Great, please tell me, if a person is itchy and scratches it with his hands, and scratches it for the rest of his life, do you think his life is happy? Callicles got angry and said: Socrates, you are such an unreasonable guy! Socrates said calmly: Just answer my question. Callicles said: Well then, I say he is happy. Socrates continued to ask: There is a kind of person who really spends his whole life scratching a certain part of his body, that is, male prostitutes. Do you think they are also happy? Now Callicles became even more angry and called Socrates shameless. However, under Socrates' questioning step by step, he had to admit that there is a difference between good and bad happiness. Socrates concluded that happiness does not lie in happiness, but in living a good life. The issue of happiness discusses a serious topic, that is, what is a good life.

Here, Socrates raised a seemingly absurd question: Are people who tickle all their lives happy people? But think about it, if you understand happiness as the satisfaction of physical desires, isn’t the satisfaction of physical desires very similar to scratching an itch? They all obtain happiness by relieving discomfort in certain parts of the body. Therefore, Socrates is right. People who pursue the satisfaction of physical desires all their lives are people who regard tickling as happiness all their lives.

4) Happiness is luck, right?

On the issue of happiness, there is also a popular view that happiness means good luck. Regarding this issue, let me tell you about Aristotle's view. He had a particularly sound view on happiness.

Aristotle believed that, first of all, there is a certain relationship between happiness and luck. He said that there are three kinds of goodness, that is, good things. The first is the goodness of the soul, which is reason and morality. The second is physical goodness, such as health and good looks. The third is external good, such as noble birth, wealth, success, fame, peace, etc. Happiness consists mainly in the goodness of the soul, but it also needs to be supplemented by the goodness of the body and external goodness. A considerable part of physical goodness and external goodness cannot be controlled by oneself, and there is a problem of good or bad luck. A person is very kind, but he comes from a humble background, is sickly, and has been in poverty all his life. If you say that he is a happy person, you are being too pretentious.

Secondly, a person with good quality can face it calmly even if he has bad luck. Occasional bad luck will not make him lose his happiness. However, Aristotle was a very reasonable person. He did not lie. He did not say that as long as you have the goodness of your soul, no matter how bad your luck is, you will always be a happy person. His view is that if you encounter major and frequent bad luck, no matter how good your qualities are, you cannot be said to be a happy person.

Third, in a person with poor quality, good luck will go in the opposite direction, leading to misfortune. For example, if a woman has a beautiful face but an empty soul, her beauty may harm her and make a living by selling her looks. If a second-generation rich man is worth hundreds of millions, but his quality is poor, his wealth may harm him and make him a playboy. Only in people of good quality can good external conditions truly promote happiness.

In short, there is a certain relationship between happiness and luck, but the determining factor is the goodness of the soul and spiritual quality.