In her article, Sara Ahmed investigates on how the notion of “happiness” is socially mobilized to determine a “good life.” Unlike the belief that happiness is preexisting and inherent to a specific object, Ahmed argues that it is determined within cultural contexts and manipulated to maintain certain systems/norms. To support her argument, she rebuts the conventional explanations on happiness, and rediscovers the extorted definition of it. According to her account, happiness literally means “what happens to you” contingently (Ahmed 30). Based on those happenings, she says, a person intentionally build his/her sphere of preference as going near the things of “good feeling” and going away from of “bad feeling.” Thus, happiness is not a mere affect, but …show more content…
At this moment, she describes “happy objects” (30) as something expected to bring a bright future, such as family and heterosexuality. However, Ahmed casts a doubt about the universally defined “happy objects.” She says, while feeling for an object is personal because it “depends on the angle of our arrival” (37), “happy objects” are “already” culturally constructed and managed to maintain certain rules and norms of the society. In other words, an individual’s “awkward” (39) and abnormal behavior must be frustrated to sustain the public’s comforts. Accordingly, any positive/negative feelings are subordinate to certain bodies, which shows up in many forms including the statement, “the black woman must let go of her anger for the white woman to move on” (39). In addition, it appears as heterosexual family in the gender-binary society. For instance, in the moment when heterosexual arousal is regarded as normal (universal) while homosexual/queer arousal is as abnormal (exceptional), a certain ideology of the society is already operating. At the end of the paper, Ahmed analyzes artistic contents and cautions against the dichotomy of good feeling/object and bad
Thomas Szasz states in his writing that “ happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly often attributed to the living to the dead, now attributed by adults to children and children to adults.” I do not agree that happiness is an imaginary state of mind.
In the poem Happiness by Jane Kenyon, the main idea is that happiness comes in many forms to our lives and it is very difficult to see it, rather we need to experience it. The poet also conveys to treasure the happiness in our lives, even if it occurs in its miniature forms. Happiness is an emotion that is unique to an individual, rather than an event. Additionally, the poet tries to point out that happiness comes to everyone and everything – even though we are not aware of it. The poet effectively utilizes the parable of return of the prodigal son to explain what happiness is, then suddenly takes a turn to claim “happiness is the uncle that you never knew about.” Now the scene is set with the uncle arriving in his plane and to find you “asleep
In Gretchen Rubin’s “The Happiness Project”, the idea of happiness is explored in great detail based on many different factors that may influence one’s own happiness. In Rubin’s case, she chose eleven concepts and ideas that she felt needed the most attention in her life and would dedicate one month out of the year to each individual concept; then, in December, she would reflect on all that she has learned and live the new lifestyle she had maintained for an entire year. Rubin started the book with a brief introduction that explained why she ultimately began on a year-long journey to find happiness and the steps she took along the way. Rubin explains that she felt that she first got the idea while sitting on a bus and pondering if she was wasting her life. Once she came to the realization that she would like to live a more eventful and peaceful life, Rubin set out to improve her own life without relying on anyone else. First, she wrote down everything that she had planned to improve upon over the course of the year in time for New Year’s Day and read many articles about happiness written by famous philosophers such as Plato to gain a further understanding of the overall concept of happiness. In addition to this, Gretchen Rubin also made a list of her Twelve Commandments and her Secrets to Adulthood, short statements that all individuals should live by to make his or her daily life much
As Walt Disney once said, “Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things.” Walt Disney is one of the best known founders for a motion - picture production company. This infamous and plausible man is among the many who support the claim that happiness can be achieved in an assortment of ways by contenting both adults and children. Maanvi Singh’s , “You Can Buy Happiness, If It’s An Experience,” Caitlin Kenney’s “Study: ‘High Incomes Don’t Bring You Happiness’” and ABC News’ “Can We Cultivate Our Own Happiness?” assert how one can achieve happiness. Genuine happiness can only be attained if one truly accepts what their lives present them with. Even though several beliefs claim that money is the key to stimulating
Many theorist believe that happiness is the only important in people's life, and all that should matter to a person is being happy. The standard of assessing a good life is how much or quantity of happiness it contains. This openness of happiness, its generosity of spirit and width of appreciation, gets warped and constricted by the claim pretending to be its greatest friend—that only happiness matters, nothing else. Robert Nozick does not on the side of hedonistic utilitarianism, he gives several examples to show that there are other elements of reality we may strive for, even at the expense of pleasure. In this essay, I will focus on Nozick's opinion of the direction of happiness and the experience machine, and finally how do I answer the question What is happiness.
Sharon Begley, author of “Happiness: Enough Already,” proclaims that dejection is not an unacceptable state of mind and there are experts that endorses gloomy feelings. This reading explicates that even though every-one should be happy there is no need to ignore sadness, as both emotions share key parts in everyone’s life. Sharon Begley and her team of specialists provides the information on why sadness is supplemental to a person’s life.
Society pressure themselves to be happy; they often ask questions like, “does that make you happy?” What they fail to understand is that sometimes doing the right thing, for the moment, might not seem to bring happiness in one’s life, but after trekking the ups and downs of life, happiness might be waiting on the other side. From time to time people also judge good and bad through happiness. “If something is good, we feel good. If something is
Finding the level of ultimate contentment and life satisfaction can be challenging, but the perception of situations or powerful social connections strengthens the level of happiness within a person. Topic Significance: In recent years, the rate of depression in young adults has increased as people struggle to find the meaning of happiness and how they can achieve happiness. As people continue throughout their life, it is important to recognize what makes them happy.
In contrast to Aristotle, Roko Belic’s documentary “Happy” provides a fresh perspective that takes place far more recently. The film sets out to similar goals of Aristotle in defining the nature of happiness and exploring what makes different people happy in general. Unlike Aristotle, however, the film’s main argument refers to makes people happier. In this case, the film argues that merely “doing what you love” is what leads to happiness (Belic). The argument itself appears oddly self-serving, considering that message is what underlines the foundation of happiness, yet there is a subliminal message that a simpler lifestyle is what leads to what the film is trying to convince you of. The message itself is obviously addressed to Americans, considering
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
The documentary HAPPY looks at the lives of different individuals from around the world, finding what source of leisure gives them the feeling of “happiness”. From the start many perspectives of how to be happy are shown, from Americans wanting to live the American dream, a rickshaw driver from India, elders in Okinawa Japan, a car accident survivor, and families living in co-housing communities in Denmark. These combine to create different cultural views through interviews with real life people and leading scientists, showing new research in positive psychology throughout the documentary in attempts to discover what happiness truly is. The film was directed by Roko Belic in 2011, and has won numerous awards including best documentary and
Happy is a documentary that brings to light the different types of livings of people around the world and contrasts how they define happiness. The movie starts out in Kolkata Slum, India, with a man Manoj Singh. Manoj is living a relatively impoverished life. His house isn’t the best, in fact the roof is just a tarp however he says “my home is good.” Manoj is quite happy with his life and it’s not because of his minimal possessions but the community around him. His happiness lies in the fact that he can see his son smiling every day and he is so grateful for his neighbors and friends. He even states himself that he doesn’t consider himself as “poor but the richest person.” Manoj’s happiness is described as the same as the average American.
“The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living” is a collaboration by His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV and Howard C. Cutler, M.D., who identify many possible components that could lead to a happy and satisfying life. Their approach combines and integrates the thoughts of East and West; Buddhist principles and practices on one hand and Western science and psychology on the other. Many everyday difficulties are highlighted in this book, and Dalai Lama and Dr. Cutler attempts to help the readers find appropriate solutions in order to find a balanced and lasting happiness. Dalai Lama’s understanding of the factors that ultimately lead to happiness is based on a lifetime of methodically observing his own mind, exploring the nature of the human condition, and investigating these things within a framework first established by The
It is said that happiness is a feeling that lies in the clarity of the soul, tranquility of the heart, and peace of the mind. However it is also said that happiness is the actual sense of fulfillment that arises from hard work and self-actualization. It is an intangible state of mind that all humans aim to conquer. Sometimes people tend to associate happiness with something familiar, with what they lack or fail to maintain, for if they fall ill, it would be health and if they were short of money, it would be wealth. If we considered these as particular goods or transitory moments of joy that are subject to change, then what defines the ultimate happiness? With all the different views on happiness, what makes some claim that there can only be one true meaning for man’s ultimate bliss, and all the rest of meanings are fallacious ones? Aristotle says “Our task is to become good men, or to achieve the highest human good. That good is happiness”. This paper aims to examine and evaluate the concept of happiness according to each of Al Farabi & Al Ghazali, whereby it sheds light on the elements of true happiness for each author, their mutual views, road of attaining it as well as their divergence of thought regarding that concept, taking into consideration the influence of Islamic theology.
Contrary to belief, genuine happiness is very rarely found at the bottom of a shopping basket or on the leather seats of a brand new car. Often we hear the cliché saying “Money can’t buy happiness” but this is in fact true. Whilst the elation and delight brought from finally owning a wanted item is extraordinary, you must remind yourself that your happiness should not become dependant upon your ownership of this item. Being happy is not something you can purchase from a shop or car dealership, it is the way you take on life. Unfortunately, happiness does not have its own aisle at shops and never will.