How Does John Stuart Mill Achieve Happiness

John Staurt Mills, in chapter five of his autobiography , “ a Crisis in My Mental History: One Stage Onward, (1909-14) argues that people should be able to find their happiness. He supports his claim by first saying that happiness is something to survive by, then he states you need to ask yourself if your are happy or not and try to find your inner happiness. Mill's purpose is to reach out to people that happiness is an important in order to make people live a happy life. He creates a serious tone for people who are trying to find happiness.

According to many different opinions and point of views, happiness can either only be pursued or at a certain point can be achieved. It is first important to define what happiness truly is, while looking beyond something that embraces positivity and well-being. Happiness is less of direct and attainable goal but rather a state of mind, a way of life, and it is up to those living to determine what will allow them to experience this certain level of satisfaction. In fact, happiness can be comparable to leadership. Leaders are in constant search of new or better qualities in order to improve their role in their community showing that it is a quest with diverse opportunities. Those craving happiness will never feel completely and utterly satisfied

Sahar Ahmadi Philosophy 1 Professor Llaguno July 29, 2014 Utilitarianism in The Hunger Games “All for one and one for all.” This idea of serving the majority was an idea presented by Jeremy Bentham. The idea coined the term “Utilitarianism”, or the act to promote the greatest good (pleasure) for the greatest number. Bentham believed in quantity over quality, or the more frequent experiences of pleasure and satisfaction over the actual quality of the pleasure and satisfaction itself. John Stuart Mill rejected this idea that Bentham proposed.

There is an instinctual human need to be curious and seek out answers to unseen questions. It is very natural for us to ask that a one word question “why??” John Stuart Mill’s reflection on happiness in his essay On Utilitarianism offers a normative economic approach to understanding of the search for happiness and the constraints in the search for one’s own need to be an induvial and seeking knowledge.

People tend to feel the most happiness in their daily lives rather than happiness over all. For instance, if someone opens the door for you, does something outrageous, tells a funny story or simply reacts kindly to you, you can experience happiness. Laughing at someones joke can cause you to feel happy even for just a moment. Another definition of happiness in our daily lives is self appreciation such as, getting that new raise, getting an A on a test or even getting into the college you want. These examples all cause happiness in different but still rather large ways. We seem to think that happiness is so difficult to come by, we focus so hard on what happiness is that we don't even realize the simple things in life that are truly making a difference. We can become significantly happy without even noticing. Although happiness seems like it’s hard to find it’s not all that difficult. What’s hard to come by is the feeling of genuine happiness ; genuine happiness is what people truly look for.

True happiness comes only from one’s self and not from the help of others. True happiness comes from one accomplishing their personal life goals. In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”, he shows why not to conform to society and instead be individualized. He goes on to write “A political victory, a rise in rents, the recovery of your sick, or return of your absent friend, or some other quite external event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but

People often create their own happiness. My friend, Hannah, when she mad, she thinks and does things that are funny. Creating your own happiness can be beneficial. Cheerfulness comes from inside you shown these examples, of mice and men, Harry Potter, and my friend Emily all created their own 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.

Being happy is something everyone wants to be, but truly being happy is difficult. How can I truly be happy if I don’t know what happiness is. Every day I wake up and wonder what will make me happy today. I ponder on this question every morning as I look in the mirror. When I walk outside I wonder if the person walking beside me is happy, if so what makes them so happy. Is it something I’m missing, will I ever be happy, or am I just not happy with myself. I discovered while reading this book that happiness starts with me and it’s something that can’t be found. And all those outside factors such as relationships, school, and friends are just contributing to my happiness. But those factors are the only thing that makes me happy or at least I thought they did.

In his argument about the ultimate norm of morality, Mill claims that the utilitarian must claim that happiness happens to be the one and only thing that is desirable in itself. He also claims that the only proof of desirability is desire and goes ahead to give an argument that happiness happens to be the one and only thing that should be desired (Selling, 2016). Most importantly, Mill argues that an individual does desire his own happiness for its personal reasons and that makes happiness to be desired by and becomes desirable for its own sake as well as for humanity as a whole. Additionally, Mill goes ahead and tries to defend his postulation that happiness happens to be the only thing

One might say, however, that some things are desired as a means to happiness. These, he says, are ‘ingredients’ to happiness. Happiness consists of these ‘ingredients’; they are a part of the happiness. Therefore, Mill claims that whatever is desired for its own sake is part of what happiness is, and each individual person desires different things to make them happy. They are means to the end of happiness. It is not possible, according to Mill, to desire something that will not provide some form of pleasure. Pleasure is happiness, and people only desire happiness, and happiness is therefore the only good.

How adequate is Mill’s conception of happiness? How good are his arguments to show that “higher” pleasures are intrinsically more desirable than “lower” ones? Is this distinction consistent with the thesis that pleasure is the only thing of value?

Happiness is not a strange term to us. We usually use that word to express our feelings in every day. Additionally, more than a word, “happiness” is what we really need and always seek in life. However, finding and understanding deeply its meaning is not easy. The online dictionary, “vocabulary.com” defines, “Happiness is a sense of well-being, joy, or contentment. When people are successful, or safe, or lucky, they feel happiness.” Thus, we always wonder if we are happy or how could we be happier in our life. Happiness, therefore, becomes a goal for everybody.

John Stuart Mill was a classical liberal thinker and believed, through the influence of his father, that man deserved to live a life that promoted the greatest amount of happiness with limited government intervention. Mill grew up with the belief that there was no God and therefore believed that man is born inherently good; government should be limited to allow individuals to make their own decisions from their inherently good instincts; economic freedom provided individuals with the protection of rights and promoted the ideology that Mill stood for most, Utilitarianism which highly influenced classical liberalism.

John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant in my opinion was two great scholars with two great but very different views, on morality. John Stuart strong beliefs was named Utilitarianism. Simply stated Utilitarianism is the belief in doing what is good specifically for the greater good of the masses/everyone not just someone.