Lauren Kim
Social Foundations 1
Professor Samponaro
October 7, 2015
Question 1: How does you own view of what constitutes individual happiness and well-being compare with Plato’s? Consider the paramount importance of reason in Plato’s conception of the good life. Is reason’s preeminence reasonable in your eyes?
It is difficult to provide an exact definition of happiness because everyone has different views and perspectives on what constitutes individual happiness. Some people find happiness through monetary gains while others may obtain it by having healthy relationships in life. Those who define well-being as living a life of prosperity will struggle to acquire more money. However, these people are not living a good life because according
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Buddha’s teachings are the opposite of the Epicurean’s who defines happiness as freedom from pain and emotional disturbance. However, a man needs to acknowledge both teachings in order to find individual happiness. A person must experience and acquire knowledge of the causes of pain in order to avoid them. A man living a bad or evil life avoids both self-knowledge and pain because he chooses not to acknowledge the responsibilities of happiness. A man is responsible for attaining knowledge in order to find happiness so how does a man find the …show more content…
Religious people have a belief in a type of knowledge which sometimes appears to transcend reason. Religious knowledge is often obtained through faith because it is difficult to experience it through human senses. In Christianity, the Bible is the main source to guide people’s morals but the Bible often contains empirical information that has been produced and constructed for many centuries. Through the knowledge of God’s teachings, most Christians learn about the virtues of life and define good and evil. It is difficult to prove or disprove religious knowledge through reason because it often depends on faith. Religious faith is not often based on evidence and therefore is difficult to prove or
He further shows us that the people of today are richer than their grandparents but are not happier in their lives (from National Statistics of social pathology). Even with these facts, people in the United States still believe if they had more money all of their problems would be solved, but once they reach that next income bracket they are not satisfied and try to reach the next one. Myers et al tells us, "even if being rich and famous is rewarding, no one ever claimed material success alone makes us happy. Other conditions like - family- friends- free time - have been shown to increase happiness" (Csikszentmihaly 145). therefore we must find balance in our own lives, and not just focus on making money. Instead we need friends, family and even free time, as aforementioned doing an activity you enjoy such as listening to music or
takes this a step further and states that something that is good must not only
Human beings’ belief systems don’t always work according to evidence. Belief is made up of
Religion can be described as a social institution built up around the idea of a supernatural being or beings, and the relation of human beings to them. In addition, religion provides individuals a belief to which they understand their existence as well network of emotional support during times of distress. Moreover, religious institutions provide individuals a proper perspective of life and establish values. Religion involves three major aspects: A conception of the nature and character of divinity (2) A set of principles concerning the duties and obligations between divinity and humanity. (3) A set of behavior patterns designed to conform to God’s will (Thorman, 154). The theme of panopticisim is to assert and maintain power by being unseen. In Christianity, God, unable to be to seen, is a supernatural being with infinite power. In addition, the Holy Bible reaffirms this power and establishes accordance among civilians. The social institution of religion is a form of a panoptic system where individuals are compelled to act accordingly.
A well-known expression is that money can’t buy happiness, yet people fantasize of winning the lottery, living in their dream house, and possessing enough tangible objects to feel satisfied with their lives. Most are under the preconceived notion that the absence of wealth and power translates to hardship and despair. This, however, is not the case, because a self-effacing lifestyle is not an indication of a lower quality of life, and often is better than one of great fortune. People yearn to have the financial independence and capabilities of those in higher ranking positions, and are willing to abandon their morals and own personal well-being if it means being successful. It seems that by reaching a level of wealth in which money is no longer
Plato states being a just person ultimately lead to being a happy person. By giving the definition of what it is to be just, he is giving the definition of what it is to be happy. Plato shows through the definitions of being just he has given us the key to happiness. Through rationality and harmony we can achieve happiness. The definition in its self is a solution to becoming happy. And I thank Plato, for showing me the light.
“Plato, Apologia” is a primary source that is a story written by Plato, it is a written account of Socrates, a Greek philosopher, who was being tried for immorality towards the gods and for “corrupting the youth” (Strayer). In this primary source, Socrates is trying to plead his case so he won 't be charged; unfortunately, Socrates does get charged with the crimes he was convicted of and is sentenced to be put to death. Through his Socrates’ plea, his discusses what he believes is “the good life,” what “wisdom” is, and what “virtue” is.
Plato and Aristotle, both have similarities and differences in their ideas of which virtues are important and how they lead to happiness. For Plato, in his book "The Republic", happiness is achieved by adhering to a set of rules put into place by the state for each class. According to Aristotle 's "Nicomachean Ethics", Aristotle believed that all human activity is done to achieve happiness, which is considered the supreme good. Becoming wealthy, or famous, or seeking physical pleasure is only done to achieve happiness. Aristotle believed that happiness can only truly be achieved after death, because happiness is more of a temporary state, but while alive, virtue can be achieved by finding a mean between the extremes of excess and deficiency.
In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.
Aristotle rejects the idea of universal happiness by explaining how Plato does not incorporate the large number of variants. Aristotle believes that good is not a single, common universal, because what it is to be good is particular to the essence of the individual. One might also argue that other common factors associated with happiness were wealth, pleasure, knowledge, and honor. Aristotle disagrees and found each of these limited to the notion of the good of man. Some benefits that may motivate them to seek better opportunities within their career may be the thought of money bringing happiness and also they will practice living the good life. Developing a good character requires a strong effort of will to do the right thing, even in difficult situations. The general idea that happiness is a result of the wealth is skewed from reality. Wealth is a means to happiness, not actual happiness, one who is wealthy, but is unable to actually use the money is not happy. Aristotle feels the good for man is something that is not dependent on anything else, so being wealthy is not something desirable. Happiness is not pleasurable sensations that can be gained or lost, it is what we seek when acting and is a condition of a person over a lifetime, not at one
However, we can wonder if the pleasures that derive from necessary natural desires are what actually brings us happiness, since having a family, friends, a good job and doing fun things seem to bring the most joy in life. Plato’s ideas on life are even more radical, since he claims that we should completely take difference from our bodily needs. Therefore it seems that we should only do what is necessary for us to stay a life and solely focus on the mind. Although both ways of dealing with (bodily)pleasure are quite radical and almost impossible to achieve, it does questions if current perceptions of ‘living the good life’ actually leads to what we are trying to achieve, which is commonly described as
..., a person who earns $25,000 is happier than a person who makes $125,000 and an employee who makes $500,000 is only slightly happier than someone who makes $55,000. Lastly, there are more important things in life that and make you happy, for example, friends. They don’t come with a price tag, and if they do, you definitely need new friends. Money won’t make you happy since good times can’t be bought. You don’t need a fancy vacation to have a good time; it’s just a matter of who you spend it with. Over the years, humans have blown the value of money way out of proportion. People make it seem like if you’re not filthy rich, then you won’t live a good life but it’s not true. You can lack money and yet still live a perfect, happy life.
Although it has been said that money is the root of all evil, many people actually believe that they would be happier if they were wealthier. Could this be correct? This essay will support the thesis that not only does the pursuit of wealth not lead to happiness; it may actually make us unhappy.
Happiness can be viewed as wealth, honour, pleasure, or virtue. Aristotle believes that wealth is not happiness, because wealth is just an economic value, but can be used to gain some happiness; wealth is a means to further ends. The good life, according to Aristotle, is an end in itself. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals who honour in comparison to the honouree. Honour is external, but happiness is not. It has to do with how people perceive one another; the good life is intrinsic to the...
Question: What is Aristotle’s idea of a good life and why does he view a good life in this way? Is Aristotle’s understanding of a good life accurate? Why or why not? (Make sure to talk about the concept of the mean).