Essay On Socrates On Happiness

Just like Aristotle once said, “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” This being stated, only those who deeply think, reflect and focus on their values, strengths and means to happiness, will be able to reach that achievement and be able to truly experience genuine joy. The main common issue in today’s society is that there is a misunderstanding between the mind and the meaning of happiness. It is first by deep reflection and accepting yourself that you will then be able to observe yourself, define yourself and finally persevere to develop your full potential. This will allow an individual to reach contentment that will further be able to blossom. Happiness is therefore an tool or an accessory that an owner carries around. Just like any object, is it easy to lose sight of it and it is essential to maintain proper care of it to ensure its renewal and

Aristotle, Epicurus, Epictetus, Boethius, Augustine, and Aquinas connected on writing about the phenomenon of human happiness. Through these philosophers, various ideologies on happiness gets to be distinctly conceivable for one to distinguish and recognize the difference between what people think or feel happiness is and what the true state of happiness is.

Many people try to define and consider different definitions of what happiness is, and I think that Plato and Aristotle offer interesting views of happiness and what it means for one to live a good life. Both philosophers agree that happiness is an important factor in one’s life and essentially the essence of how to live a good life. Plato offers many theories and definitions of justice leading to happiness, while Aristotle argues that happiness is the main goal that all humans aim for in their entire life. Plato offers a philosophical view of a happy life for an individual by explaining a just state and what it would entail and also the theory of the forms that one must understand to achieve happiness. After learning about both

Because Socrates’ belief about happiness directly correlated with philosophy, I decided to look into our modern day society and see if people found the same connection between living a just life and happiness that Socrates did. I interviewed people and asked them about what makes them happy; I decided to come up with the conclusion of where this happiness comes from based on their answers, as opposed to asking my interviewees (since it’s a pretty loaded question). Originally, I was planning on asking people from our class—but I instead decided to ask people when I went back home from break, since they had fresh perspectives and no previous discussion of The Republic or any of Socrates’ ideas. The answers I received were much more simplistic and straight forward than Socrates’; some examples of answers were the ocean, laughing, friends, sunsets,

Socrates is known in todays world as one of the greatest philosophers in history. He brought many revolutionary ideas to ancient Athens during his life and even after his death. He had many followers that beloved him even till death. His tragic death only led him to become a martyr for philosophy. Socrates never wrote anything down so what we know of his life is the from the records left by his followers, mainly Plato.

From the beginning of their evolution, human beings have been searching for the meaning of happiness. While many may see this to be an inconsequential question, others have devoted entire lives to the search for happiness. One such person who devoted a great deal of thought to the question of man's happiness was the famous ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. In his book The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle discussed the meaning of happiness and what it meant to live a good life. He asserted that the devise which has been invented to create what is good for man is called "politics;" and it "uses the rest of the sciences"¦so that this end must be the good for man." (Aristotle, I, ii) Aristotle also identified four general means by which people live their lives in order to gain happiness, but stated that only one was a means by which a person could actually attain it. According to Aristotle, it was not political power, wealth, or worldly pleasures by which a person could achieve real happiness, it was living a contemplative life.

Happiness is the central purpose of human life and a goal in itself. All action is goal oriented and the goal of every action, is to reach happiness. According to Aristotle, happiness is “living well

The pursuit of happiness is an endeavor in which most individuals seem thoroughly invested. Different philosophers gave their varied views on the concept of happiness, and the Fredrick case will be illustrated with regard to what Aristotle and Epicurus opined about the aspect of a good or happy life. As it turns out, there are conflicting interests about the Aristotelian rigid view of happiness, and the more accommodative one by Epicurus. The former argued that happiness can only be attained when one has achieved their true purpose that is more than what material things can facilitate. The latter in turn argued that pleasures are permissive to

With the vast array of answers I received when interviewing, I noticed that in our modern day society, different people have different sources of happiness—which was expected—but I also noticed that happiness comes in all forms. This is very different than the answer Socrates gives, due to the fact that his answer is much more simple and straight forward; Socrates claims that happiness is only achieved when one lives life in a just manner and utilizes philosophy. What I found, however, was that certain people find happiness in different settings, such as beaches, cities, and forests; other people find happiness in emotions and experiences, such as laughing, being in love, and traveling; and others find happiness in people. This challenges Socrates’ belief because among all of these different answers, being just and living a just life is not necessarily an aspect; although it might play a role in some people’s happiness, the things themselves that make people happy are not dependent on being “just”. Instead, these things are more dependent on emotional stimulants, which from my interviews, are clearly a range of different

Happiness is the fundamental objective of life. This bold statement is unanimously agreed upon among generations of people on every corner of our planet. However, the real question that has been contested for centuries is the true meaning of happiness? The true meaning of happiness is one of the most highly debated philosophy topics in history. Most famous are the writings of Aristotle and John Stuart Mill who both paint very opposing pictures of happiness. Mill believes happiness is obtained through pleasure and the absence of pain. On the other hand, Aristotle insist happiness is obtained through living a fulfilling, virtuous life. This passage will examine Aristotle 's and Mill 's views on happiness as well as give an opinion one which philosophical theory is most convincing.

There are certain truths of the world that cannot be ignored or overlooked. Many philosophers have spent countless years discussing, debating and evaluating such truths. One such influential philosopher is Socrates. Born in Athens in 469 B.C.E, he spent most of his time at the marketplace and other public places engaging in dialogues about truths of life. Among many other things, he discussed virtue and happiness and how closely they are related. According to Socrates, virtue is absolutely necessary for perfect happiness because virtue brings a type of happiness that other things could never bring. In this paper, I will explain the aforementioned idea of Socrates on virtue and happiness and through evidence from Plato's Apology which is

He loved what he did and it was the thing that fulfilled him. That being said he said, “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” (Socrates) Gathering knowledge and asking people of power why something is correct and just getting truth is also happiness to Socrates. To make Socrates happy all he wanted to do was continue to walk around and enlighten everyone he could talk to by showing them what he believed in and in his mind helping them. He felt he was doing God’s work

For Aristotle the central purpose of human life was happiness itself. As a result, he dedicated his own life to the advancement of the topic by devoting more time to the subject than any other thinker prior to the modern era. Aristotle’s platform, that “happiness depends on ourselves”, is the foundation that he builds his life work upon. Aristotle’s metaphorical pursuit of happiness led him to create a science on the subject and institute guidelines and conditions to follow, such that happiness becomes the key in which to achieve the good life.

Many individuals attempt to characterize and consider diverse meanings of what happiness is, and I believe that Plato and Aristotle offer intriguing perspectives of happiness and what it implies for one to live a good life with great things surrounded by himself. Our two Philosophers concur that happiness is an essential factor in one's life and basically the substance of how to carry on with a decent life. For Aristotle, a thing is best understood by looking at its end, purpose, or goal. For example, the purpose of a chair is to sit, and it is by seeing this that one best understands what a chair is. True happiness is when we see an end in itself which is “supreme good”. However, it is very important to identify the true happiness from the false happiness. This confusion might lead us to a life in a bubble with lot of imaginations.

Born in Athens, Socrates was a philosopher who was considered the wisest man of his time. He created the Socratic method, which is the question and answer technique that is used in arguments and debates today. Socrates stated that all real knowledge is within each person and saw things for themselves for their own reasons. Over time he was soon accused of corrupting the youth of Athens, because he was an atheist and introducing new spiritual ideas. He was placed on trial and later sentenced to death due to his “corruptions” of society.