John Stuart Mill's Argument Essay: Striving For Happiness

Striving for happiness is a fact about human life. It is considered one of the main goals of our life. Happiness is achieved when one flourishes, lives, and does well. An ethical life is a happy life. To lead an ethical life is to consider the happiness of others and to value yourself. Everyone desires to be fulfilled, but there is no point of being happy if our actions or intentions are bad. In order to achieve the life of complete virtue, we need to make the right choices and decisions.

In an ethical life, it is vital that one considers the happiness of everyone to achieve their contentment. Our happiness is not only based on our own work, but relates to the happiness of others. For instance, volunteering is found to be positively correlated

One will only be able to help or consider the happiness of others by taking care of themselves first. The ethical practice is to act in good faith by bringing yourself to your enlightened state of mind. By meeting the physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional, one will be enable to be more attentive and caring to others.

John Stuart Mill is a philosopher who mentions that one can pursuit happiness by doing the right thing. His belief is that, “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”( Utilitarianism 2) . By making ethical decisions, one will not only bring happiness to themselves, but others as well. On the other hand, an unethical decision will lead to unhappiness. In ethical life, we have moral duty to perform action that will bring good outcome or prevent harm.

One who lives according to virtues can obtain a fully life of happiness. Even though pleasure can bring some happiness, living an ethical life that uses reason and respects people can bring a happier life. People can lead a happy life and be happy. Being morally virtuous such as not taking a person’s life, not lying, or stealing is a way to live a happy life. Someone who follows their virtue have no reason for them not to be able to to attain happiness. By not killing, lying, or stealing, one can be content in knowing they are good therefore bringing

He states “ He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life ” (Nicomachean Ethics, 1101a10). To achieve happiness is to have good moral, or complete virtue. One must not only be virtue, but also act in accordance with virtue. The life of virtue is crucial for happiness. Happiness is the final goal or the end of our life.

It is also important to think if one decision can make a person happy for a long period of time, or just for the moment. For example, someone decides to play video games instead of studying for an exam. Playing video games will make the person feel pleasure momentarily, not happiness. Eventually, circumstance will lead the person to feel regret, failure, and disappointed at their unethical decision. Unlike pleasure, happiness can’t be lost or gained in short amount of time; it is the ultimate value of our