Nozick: Value And Meaning

Our acts shape and mold us whether we know it or not. Our acts and decisions shape us, which can change our goals as well. If we perform virtuous acts then our goal will be virtuous which is why all of our acts should be aimed towards that goal. While both theories are well thought out pieces of work, Aristotle’s theory does make more sense to me, a man centralized around good virtues and happiness. Reading his work has definitely changed me and my own theories about life.

Looking further into Nozick’s observations of value and meaning, there are parts of his supporting arguments that I support and others I face contradictions with. After going through the definitions in the chapter, we take them and we apply them to other objects and emotions in our lives and see what we can do to improve the meaning and value of each object. From here, we will truly learn more about the examined life in terms of value and meaning in our everyday lives. At the end of this analysis, we should further understand the meaning of the two words and be able to differentiate or relate one to the other. Nozick supports his definition of value as objects that have meaning.

Individual temperament plays a large role, as do expectations” (Tuttle, 2013). The idea of one’s happiness is distinct to others; it could come from success, money, youth, good looks, health, education, religious faith, a happy marriage, and close relationships. Dr. Vijai Sharma, a life coach, explains, in the article Everyone’s Idea of Happiness is Different, by saying “happiness one will have in one’s life depends on temperament and attitude” (Sharma, 1996). This shows his idea on how happiness can be brought upon by thoughts in people’s mind. The idea of happiness or this search for contentment should be brought upon as a great matter because those whom find contentment would live a more positive life with less stress.

People also want to have happiness in what they do. My personality type naturally lends itself to giving others Clarity and Fairness, so I believe the other facets of the SCARF model are where the biggest impacts of my own personal leadership skills can be made. Status has always been personally important to me, however, because of my personality profile (ENTP), it 's sometimes lost on me that other people need to have a perceived concept of status as well. A few basic implementations of this understanding are: giving people more credit, even if I have done more of the work, if the person needs a status boost. The status I lose by giving another the credit could possibly be worth the extra amount of work that the person produces.

These phycologists have wondered if there are more optimist or pessimists in the world. They have made an attempt to find out what approach is greater or better. There are some advantages to optimism because it makes people feel better about life, however, there are also some advantages to pessimism in that looking at the unfortunate side of things can help some pessimists cope better with the world. Both optimism and pessimism have important roles to play the lives of everybody. Being optimist permits people to go after their goals in a positive way, to dream bigger and better dreams, which they can strive to work towards.

Or you must discover the things you want or that make you happy from within. Only then you are successful. How Positivity is the key to success? To begin with let us all first understand the meaning of positive thinking. Positive thinking is an attitude that pushes you to expect good and desired results.

The concluding stage which is meaningful life pertains to the deep sense of fulfillment by employing the strengths not only for oneself. The theory reconciles two contradicting views of human happiness between individualistic approach and altruistic approach. The goal to take care of oneself and improve one’s set of potency is reunited with the value of sacrificing for greater function. (http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org). The last dimension of Martin Seligman’s theory which is meaningful life supports the concept utility of life that existence has a purpose and for others.

Humanistic believe that we are all born with an innate drive to reach our potential as good, contributing persons to our society (contributing in whatever way suits our own strengths). b. This theory is essentially an optimistic one that views human nature in the best possible light; it provides a stark contrast to the conflict-driven psychoanalytic theory and the environment-driven behaviorist theory. Carl Rogers’s Self Theory Fully functioning person is one who gets along well with others by conditional positive regard and genuinely caring about them. Carl Rogers believed that we reach this goal primarily by receiving unconditional positive regard, which helps us develop positive self-esteem.

So I can easily conclude that Happiness is something we have to work for moreover we can also increase our level of happiness. The three main factors that determine the degree of my happiness are helping others, being positive along with my family and friends. Happiness can be found in helping others; it not only increases the level of our happiness but it also increases life span and well being. People who are happy are also very helpful people. Volunteering, donating, making people smile and spending quality time with sick are just a few ways we can help others.

This prioritizing of human actions into efficient hierarchies establishes the foundations of rule systems which later refine themselves into more sophisticated systems of morals, manners and statutory laws. All these systems have a tendency to address the fundamental need of the human species to survive and avoid the common fate of extinction by conserving energy and directing social attention towards more productive kinds of behavior. It could be said that as civilization approaches the ideal of efficiency, the harmony that follows from efficient and thoughtful actions inspires a state of peace that exponentially increases the chances of human civilization surviving over long periods of time. Social change has more or less followed the more reasoned logic and experiences of people. Change is not always perfect.