One Stage Onward

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.

In a chapter of A Crisis in My Mental History by John Stuart Mill, the author explains his theory on proceeding happiness. Within the paragraph he states views on pursuing happiness. He believes people who focus on others happiness, figure out whether they are happy or not, or find their purpose are ultimately happier. In my opinion if a person is unsure about their happiness, they are not happy.

John Stuart Mills, in chapter five of his autobiography, “A Crisis in My Mental History: One Stage Onward,” (1909-14) reasons that happiness is not to be looked upon as a goal, but as a by product of one’s involvement in other things for purposes not related to finding happiness. He supports his theory by giving examples that when you make happiness something you are conscious about you become quite unhappy, then he states when we fix our minds on other objects we will find happiness along the way, then stresses we are not to dwell on happiness as it comes through the “air you breathe” when you are not thinking about it. Mill’s purpose is to get people to set their minds upon something else in order to show us that happiness can only be found when we stop looking for it. He establishes a serious tone for people everywhere.

The amalgam of the human experience and the pursuit of happiness is that of an instinctive and inexorable nature; perchance in happiness lays the fundamental purpose of the human experience. Happiness, throughout the lapse of time—regardless of multifarious discrepancies, such as nationality or age, has proven to be an all-inclusive search. Whether it is derived from power, wealth, success, or elsewhere, happiness is a perpetual pursuit. Illustrious philosopher Aristotle believed “happiness depends upon ourselves (Aristotle)”, speaking to a notion of happiness being an individual endeavor.

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.

Mill describes happiness as pleasure and the absence of pain. He believes that achievement of goals should be counted as a part of one’s happiness. Mill also states that happiness is the sole basis of morality. Happiness is the sole criterion for morality, people never desire anything but happiness. We do desire things like virtue but that is because it constitutes a part of happiness.

“Happiness is pleasure,” according to John Mill (111, The Elements of Moral Philosophy). And pleasure, Mill stated, is a broad term that includes “all mental states that feel good” (111). Mill’s view on pleasure and happiness is akin to the ancient ethical theory of Hedonism, in which pleasure is the ultimate good and pain is the ultimate evil. The Dalai Lama has a contrasting opinion of the description of happiness; he states that “the principle characteristic of genuine happiness is peace: inner peace” (55, Ethics for the New Millennium). He goes on to explain that inner peace is “rooted in concern for others” (55). While the Dalai Lama acknowledges that finding inner peace is dependent on each individual and their basic attitude and desires, he states “it is through achieving our aim by means of effort and self-sacrifice, through considering both the short-term benefit to us and the long-term effects on others’ happiness, and sacrificing

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.

He also stated that happiness is not a theoretical idea, but a concrete whole (Shafer-Landau, 2010, pg. 24). Happiness is everything for us; we seek our happiness every day. It can be as simple as what we want to wear, what we want to eat, or where we want to go. We base all our decisions on what makes us happy. By happiness is envisioned pleasures and the privation of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the absence of pleasures (Shafer-Landau, 2010, pg.17). We can only fulfill our happiness with executing the pleasures that we desire. Mill argues that people want happiness and that the overall happiness is a good to the sum of all persons (Driver, 2009). I approve the statements, Mill has given and believes we should execute the pleasures a person needs, in this case, the legalization of marijuana.

According to society, it is displayed that when people are with their family and friends, they are exceeding 31% more in school. This reveals that happiness helps kids to improve in school. In the article, an autobiography, by John Stuart Mill(1909), claims that happiness is focused on too much, and that people are displaying the wrong activities to find it. John Stuart Mill supports the thesis by using his opinion, that the reader could relate to. The author wants to catch the reader’s attention, in order to push them focus on how they are finding happiness. Nevertheless, John Stuart Mill wants the reader to relate to his opinion. For example, when people are kind or help out a friend and always “ask yourself [if] your happy, and if you cease

According to society, it displays that when people are with their family and friends, they are exceeding 31% great in school. This reveals that happiness helps kids to improve in school, however some people disagree with this argument. In the article, an autobiography, by John Stuart Mill(1909), claims that people focus on happiness too much, and that people are displaying the wrong activities to find it. To support the thesis, John Stuart Mill creates his own opinion, that the reader could relate to. The author wants to catch the reader’s attention, in order to push them focus on how they are finding happiness. Nevertheless, John Stuart Mill wants the reader to relate to his opinion. For example, when people are kind or help out a friend

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

Immanuel Kant refers to happiness as contentment (Kant, ) whereas John Stuart Mill refers to it as the pursuit of pleasure and the absence of pain (Mill, p.7). Kant does not base his ethics on happiness. Instead, he argues that morality is based on our duty as a human (Kant, ). To do what is right for Kant is to do what is instinctually moral without giving thought to the overall happiness. On the other hand, Mill does in fact use happiness as the bases for his ethics. He proposes that actions are right if they promote overall happiness and wrong if they promote the opposite of happiness (Mill, ). In this paper, it will be argued that Mill 's views on happiness are more reasonable than those of Kant 's because happiness should be the base for ethics.

John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics both agree that happiness is essential to a good life but differ on what an individuals happiness consists of. They both recognized the importance of happiness to man and aimed at defining it. Aristotle believed that happiness comes from virtue. He argued that in order to be happy, man must complete his function (Aristotle). On the other hand, John Stuart Mill, argues that pleasure and freedom from pain are what make up someone’s happiness. He felt that man’s purpose in life is to find pleasure, and that pleasure will bring him happiness (Brink). The two philosophers spent much of their time contemplating what it means to be happy, and although they came across different views, they agreed on the overall idea that in order to attain true happiness, men should be engaging in activities that are distinct to

Mill defines happiness as the production of happiness and the absence of pain. Unlike Kant's focus on the individual, Mill believed in considering the happiness of everyone that might be affected by the action. People should seek the greatest amount of happiness possible for all involved.