Analysis Of John Stuart Mill´s A Crisis In My Mental History

Happiness is an essential goal for most people. From books and expensive classes that teach people how to achieve happiness to the fundamental right of “the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, the importance of happiness is evident in society. This causes the rise to two fundamental questions: “How does one attain happiness?” and “,How does happiness create a meaningful life?” Both happiness and living a meaningful life are achieved simultaneously. The search for happiness and the factors that make it brings meaning to life. Happiness can stem from several factors such as wisdom and knowledge, savoring life and its experiences, and even suffering and pain. Analyzing these factors brings meaning to one’s life.

Specific Purpose: The purpose is to allow the audience to understand how true happiness, or self-actualization, can be achieved.

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

The pursuit of happiness is an endless journey that we all experience during our lifetime. This search for satisfaction in life is made up of actions and choices that we make to benefit our lives for the better, even if done subconsciously. Many people try to end this lifelong journey short by reaching a practically unachievable “true happiness”, and some even get so caught up in trying to reach this ultimate fulfillment in life, that they begin to forget about the great things currently in their lives because they spend so much time and energy focusing on what they want rather than what they have. Life is about enjoying living in the moment, because it only happens once.

If a person is asked what their goal in life is, they will probably answer, to have a big house, a good family, a high paying job, a nice car, but what about happiness? What is happiness? Happiness can be defined as a combination of life satisfaction through social relationships and life experiences, achieved through the choice of wanting to be happy in life. A person can choose to be happy by improving their social life, learning to depend less on money, and understanding that there are things within their control and things that are not. Statistics show that having a good social life greatly improves one’s happiness.

One can be happy because they won the lottery, or one can be happy simply because someone smiled at them. Happiness is not hard to acquire, but establishing a consistent and enduring happiness in one’s life is almost impossible if one does not have a strong mental foundation built by a sense of self-fulfillment and independence. Modern society openly ridicules any form of self-content. It is filled with ever-changing advertisements for new ways to become happy quickly. Modern society has essentially spread a narcotic-like addiction to fads; overloading our brain with spikes of serotonin then leaving us in a state of withdrawal. In this society, one is no longer allowed to simply achieve set goals and live the rest of their life in peace; they must evolve, or they will be left behind. Society power and influence is growing at such a rapid rate that there will be a point where no human

"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life." -Omar Khayyam. The center of one's life and the ultimate life goal should be the desire to be happy. Although in some cases creating something meaningful does bring happiness to a person's life, the sole purpose is to live for your own happiness and no one else's. Life's decisions should only be based upon the desire to make one's self happy. In the end, you only get one life so why live it for someone else? Everybody's idea of what happiness and what being happy consists of will be different. There are many factors that determine how a person will go about achieving true happiness.

John Stuart Mills, in chapter five of his autobiography “A Crisis in My Mental History: One Stage Onward”, (1909-14), suggest that mankind can never find happiness when it is their goal, they can only find it when their minds are fixed on something unrelated to the topic. He supports his claim by first stating, that happiness is only found when we have our minds fixed on something else than our happiness, then he says that when we are conscious of our feelings and when we feel happiness that is when we feel the most misery and sorrow, and finally he suggests that happiness will come naturally as long as we don’t dwell on the feeling. Mill’s purpose is to express that we are not supposed to be focused on happiness, it will come just as naturally as the air we breathe, but if we do we will just find ourselves in a state of misery. He establishes a very informative serious tone for anybody anywhere.

putting a hat on a snowy day. waking up early on a Sunday morning. avoiding that cheesecake after a great meal. choices. we make those choices in our everyday life.we don't question these choices because we already know why we choose to do these decisions. we put on a hat because its cold. we wake early to feel revived.we avoid that yummy cheesecake because we want to avoid those extra calories. while reading, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and Arriving at perfection by Benjamin Franklin, coming to a conclusion on how a person can choose happiness was not as complicated as it seemed. A person chooses happiness through self-motivation, in other words to make one a better self. There are times where we want to better ourselves but for

In contrast to these beliefs, in McMahon’s article people begin to argue that the problem was not the search for happiness, but that we are not directing our priorities. To explain, the people, as stated by Mill, feel that there is “too much concentration on gross national product and there should be more focus on gross national happiness”. McMahon made a suggestion in regards to Mill; it was to put in time with a charity, spend time with family, or a walk in the park. McMahon followed that by saying “If you’re lucky, you’ll find happiness; if not, your time won’t be wasted. You might even bring some joy to the world.” To clarify, McMahon is emphasizing the overall idea that happiness is not simply found; it is achieved only when exploring

Essentially, seeking happiness is necessary in life. We often hope to find happiness from other people, other things around us and forget that we can create it by ourselves. The novel “The happiness project” by Gretchen Rubin is sufficient evidence. The author states, “I am happy – but I’m not as happy as I should be.”(13) Then she started a project within a year to change her life and seek for a happier life. By making a list of things she has to do in the next twelve months, the author have done many things which affects her “Vitality” (1), her “Marriage” (38), her “Leisure” (112), her “Friendship” (141),etc. positively so that she can achieve her goal, which is a life full filed of happiness as she dreamed before. We can also do that. We know that if everyone of us set a goal and live purposely, we are all happy. However, we can be happier if we know how to change ourselves on the right way. We can make ourselves happy by doing simple things in our everyday life.

In the fifth chapter of John Stuart Mill’s autobiography,”A Crisis in My Mental History:One Stage Onward,” (1909-14,) Mill’s opinion on happiness argues that the more you think about the idea of happiness itself, the less happy you become. Mill uses personal experience to support his claim and gives examples that when you just live life and be productive and not worry about making yourself happy, you become genuinely happy. His purpose is to give his opinion on happiness and help the general public understand that we find happiness when not looking for it. Mill uses an informative and patient tone with the general public, or whoever is in need of the advice he gives. I agree with John Stuart Mill.

To further this point, John Stuart Mill states “Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so.”(McMahon par.10). Stuart expresses to us to us his feeling towards looking back at your happiness; he reassures us thinking twice about your happiness can make it fade, instead you can simply just being happy. For example, if someone with a family opens a business and starts to let it take over their lives, they start to forget about their family, they become more and more involved in their work and suddenly their main happiness, which would be their family becomes to

The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.

“Absolute liberty is the absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible to himself” - Henry Brooks Adams. There has been great debate, past and present with regards to what constitutes as an individuals liberty. It has been subject to constant ridicule and examination due to violations of civil rights. Freedom, liberty, and independence are all important human rights represented within John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty.