A Historical perspective about Happiness and the philosophy of happiness

We think about happiness as the pursuit of pleasure, euphoria and ecstasy. It has been said that all of human endeavor throughout history has been to increase pleasure while minimizing pain. I'm not sure about that, but I do believe that by expanding our understanding of happiness, we can expand our own happiness.

It seems that the current view is that happiness is one of our unalienable or natural rights, our just due. Something that everyone should have, freely and abundantly, without effort. It's almost as if happiness is a requirement. If we are not happy at all times, someone must be to blame.

We demand happiness of life and look for it to come from outside of ourselves. I know that's where I used to look. But this has not always been the accepted point of view.

About Happiness in History

Let's put some of these cultural beliefs in historical perspective.

In ancient Greece, Happiness was living a virtuous and moral life, no matter your wealth. That is to say, doing your duty to your parents, family, community, nation/emperor/king. It wasn't a personal feeling.

For a long time happiness remained the province of the gods. I'm sure people experienced joy and pleasure, but joy and pleasure were not considered a part of happiness. When the ancient Greeks and Romans got too involved in joy and pleasure, they started thinking of themselves as gods. And that is when their culture fell apart.

With the advent of Christianity, smiles in art were only permitted on holy figures, whether in paintings or sculpture. People could not be found smiling in their portraits. You weren't supposed to be happy.

And then there's the belief that happiness isn't to be found during life on earth, but only in the after-life. If you were good you could go to heaven and finally be happy. That is still what some people think when they think about happiness.

Along with the renaissance period, happiness came to be seen as a possibility for some, mostly the aristocrats. The Mona Lisa became famous in part because she dared to smile.

During The Enlightenment period of western history, happiness came to be something everyone naturally works toward.

(The Enlightenment was a time somewhere between the Renaissance and the industrial revolution, when the great thinkers turned toward science, logic and reason to explain man and his world.)

Our current culture often equates it with money. We feel that happiness is essential to a good life and money is essential to happiness. Therefore money is essential to a good life.

Therein lies a great danger. The more we have, the more we want. This seems to be true of all things. We want bigger better houses. We want faster and safer cars. We want more entertainment. We want more happiness. Like a drug addict we crave more and more.

There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness - Carl Jung

But we have several other requirements to being happy. Not only do we want more things, we want a thinner, prettier body. We want to be stronger and smarter. If you aren't thin and pretty. If you aren't strong and handsome, you can't possibly be happy. So say the purveyors of cosmetics, diets and body enhancements.

But some of the happiest people in the world are those who are 'developmentally challenged'. You say that is only because they don't truly know about happiness. But happiness is a completely subjective feeling. We shouldn't discount their feelings. It is THEIR feeling, not ours.

Money and Happiness

Happiness should have increased because the standard of living is much higher. But it's not. Is it because people are more willing to admit it? To seek out help? No, Successive random samples of the general population by researchers don't indicate this.

Could it possibly be because each successive generation expects more happiness? And when life doesn't live up to our expectations we experience depression? In previous generations expectations were lower because people took for granted life would be hard.

The greater the expectations, the greater the potential for falling short of those expectations and falling into depression. Does that mean we should lower our expectations? NO! Not lower, just different.

Remember we moved from thinking of happiness as being moral toward thinking about happiness as pleasure.

Money buys pleasure, which is not happiness. Happiness is a longer lasting and more general feeling of well being. When you think of pleasure do you get the same pictures or feelings as when you think of happiness? I don't.

When I think about pleasure I have visions of decadence. Like eating a delicious but fattening dessert or laying in the sun next to a pool and having servants waiting on me, great sex.

When I think about happiness, I have visions of family gatherings or personal accomplishments. I feel happiness seep into my being when I'm in a natural, outdoor setting and stop to look around and absorb the wonders of the world.

With this philosophy of happiness and historical perspective about happiness, maybe it will be easier to Find Happiness.

What does Happiness mean to you?

What makes you happy? When do you feel happy? What do you think about happiness? Is there a distinction between Happiness and Pleasure?

Share you views.

How other Visitors View Happiness

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...