We Have No Right For Happiness

The pursuit of happiness has an interesting collection of meanings behind it. Americans are free to become whatever they want to be. To study what interests a person is what makes them happy. Once something deeply interests a person, he or she is drawn in to want to learn more about it. Pursuing a career that is related to someone’s likes is the essence of what can make a person content. To choose to or not to have a family is a personal decision that Americans are allowed to make. One person might enjoy living alone while another likes having the company of family. Creating a family is a pursuit of happiness for certain people, but for others, living alone is peaceful and a comfortable way of living. How one chooses to live is a choice made pertaining to the normal routine of daily life. One might watch television with dinner or sit his or her family down to have a meal together. While one person enjoys exercising regularly, another could be perfectly happy with the use of electronic devices daily. A home might be clean and organized or messy and scattered; it is the choice of the home owner. The pursuit of happiness is made up of different components depending on the

Attention Materials: Many times I have wondered what is true happiness. Is there such thing as true happiness? Can it even be attained if there is such a thing? Is it more of fulfilling desires, or satisfying psychological needs? Every person attempts to realize happiness in its fullest essence. It seems like today people are too busy trying to get rich. Nowadays it is believed that happiness lies in that new mansion, or a nice Ferrari. People are mistakingly assuming that wealth will bring to them a personal significance in which they will achieve happiness.

Happiness is one of the great themes that makes our lives better. It’s a motivation to commit toward something to keep the feeling active. Whether it’s getting high on substances, making money, or even having enough to get by, Americans desire happiness in one form or another. Walter Mosley, author of, “Be Happy”, expresses his opinion in his article, towards who is responsible for one’s happiness. His confidence lies on believing that it’s an individual's complete obligation to be content with themselves and not anyone else’s. He suggests that the following statement, "the pursuit of happiness is an ‘unalienable right’.”, in the Declaration of Independence, claims that the government is responsible for ensuring most to all Americans’ path to happiness. I believe that the happiness of the American people, should be partly dependant upon by the individuals themselves, and by the government. It builds upon the approach a person has towards everything, but also Uncle Sam initially, pledged to attempt to satisfy the people of America.

When we look to define happiness, many different ideas come to mind. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary uses three definitions for happiness: good fortune, a state of well being and contentment, and a pleasurable satisfaction. In Brave New World, Aldus Huxley argues that a society can redefine happiness through the government’s manipulation of the environment and the human mind itself. The government accomplishes this by mind conditioning throughout the process of maturing, keeping a caste-based society, and obliterating problems. The government thus defines happiness as the absence of all conflict. This differs from happiness as the American society sees it: the ability to pursue and enjoy individual desires.

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.

Happiness is that intangible “something” that all human beings seem to long for from the time they are born. As Thomas Jefferson proclaimed in America’s Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” With the birth of a nation that was founded on the promise of a better life through individual achievement, regardless of social class, the pursuit of happiness has perhaps become synonymous with securing “the American Dream.” The pursuit of happiness and achieving “the American Dream” are entirely different from one person to another. The dream is what

    In the time frame that this story is set, many major life decisions things are made taking into account one’s duty to family - including the selection of a husband or wife.  It is possible that each of these couples may not have been in love,  when their vows were stated.  They have a duty to society; they must not marry outside of their social class.  They have a duty to their family;

What then is happiness? Perhaps happiness is a basic and familiar concept, yet it may occur to be perplexing when one has to convey it through the medium of words. Lyubomirsky defines the term as “the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile” (Lyubomirsky 32). It is often subjective, personal, and can stem from a myriad of activities: some may experience similar feelings by engaging in sports, spending time with family and friends, others while reading or simply being in solitude. Due to the personal nature and subjectivity of happiness, a handful of myths pertaining to this concept has emerged. Three happiness myths were presented within the chapter: 1. Happiness must be found. 2. Happiness lies in changing our circumstances. 3. You either have it or you don’t. The first myth greatly piqued my interest, since I, too, have once externalized happiness and assumed that it would be found outside.

‘We have no Right to Happiness’ makes a very good argument on the point the author is trying to make. Some people believe that happiness is a right and is supposed to be given out, or is required to be provided by the government, like a right. In all reality that is true, but to an extent, we do have a right to

Our parents always told us that we should have goals and dreams in our life, and through them we will gain happiness. There are some things in life that get in the way of our dreams and goals. In the Declaration of Independence, It states that we have the right to pursue happiness. For example having everybody in the world be equal, and not be shamed upon or looked at differently due to the color of their skin. The poem ¨The Negro Mother,¨ the play A Raisin in the Sun, and the article Innocence Is Irrelevant, all show how our society and they way people can get in the way of our happiness.

In the U.S. Declaration of Independence the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental right, but what exactly is happiness? According to Webster 's happiness is defined as a mental or emotional state of well being by positive emotions ranging from contentment to joy. But if we considered happiness as a trait rather than a transient state of being, than happiness wouldn’t be considered “joyful” or even feeling content with life. Instead happiness would perhaps include a sense of hopefulness and serenity and would be looked at as more of a contributor to one’s happiness. Ed Diener is a psychologist and a professor at University of Illinois and was the first person to identify the contributing factors to happiness and speaks about it in his book Happiness. Diener explains that happiness does matter in many different ways and uses three decades of research to explain happiness, suggesting that,“There is preliminary evidence that people who score higher on the well-being scales have better social and work relationships; make more money, live longer, healthier lives, and are more contributory societal citizens”(Conkle). Happiness comes in many different forms depending on the person. Family, friends, health, peace and values can all mean something to someone 's happiness but that doesn 't necessarily mean it’s a contributing factor(Tamayo). The extent of happiness is determined on not only actions but contributions, therefore if these

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.

Now happiness, more than anything else, seems complete without qualification. For we always choose it because of itself, never because of something else. Honor, pleasure, understanding, and every virtue

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.

It should go without saying that one will go through life having many experiences, and more specifically pleasures, we strive to experience these pleasures owing to the fact that we think that these pleasures will make us happy. The majority of, if not all of our existence is dedicated to the pursuit of things that ultimately we think will ensure our happiness. Whether we want to go to college to earn a degree or spend all of your time exploring the world, we do what we do because in the long or short term, we assume that our actions will accomplish our goal of happiness. The pleasures that might normally be considered as the pleasures that are quintessential to exist, or things that are more typical for us to strive for, would likely