Editing Happiness (section)

== Philosophy ==
[[File:The happy butcher.jpg|thumb|A smiling butcher slicing meat]]
{{Main|Philosophy of happiness}}

===Relation to morality===
[[Philosophy of happiness]] is often discussed in conjunction with [[ethics]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Annas|first=Julia|url=http://archive.org/details/moralityhappines00anna|title=Morality of happiness|date=1995|publisher=Oxford : Oxford University Press|others=Library Genesis|isbn=978-0195096521}}</ref> Traditional European societies, inherited from the Greeks and from Christianity, often linked happiness with morality. In this context, morality was the performance in a specific role in a certain kind of social life.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hare |first=John |date=2006 |title=Religion and Morality |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/religion-morality/ |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=23 March 2022 |archive-date=11 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911130605/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/religion-morality/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Happiness remains a difficult term for [[moral philosophy]]. Throughout the history of moral philosophy, there has been an oscillation between attempts to define morality in terms of consequences leading to happiness or defining it as nothing to do with happiness at all.<ref>{{cite book |last1=MacIntyre |first1=Alasdair |title=A Short History of Ethics |url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryethi00maci_019 |url-access=limited |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryethi00maci_019/page/n181 167] |isbn=978-0415173988 |edition=Second}}</ref>

In psychology, connections between happiness and morality have been studied in a variety of ways. Empirical research suggests that laypeople's judgments of a person's happiness in part depend on perceptions of that person's morality, suggesting that judgments of others' happiness involve moral evaluation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Phillips |first1=Jonathan |last2=Misenheimer |first2=Luke |last3=Knobe |first3=Joshua |title=The Ordinary Concept of Happiness (and Others Like It) |journal=Emotion Review |date=July 2011 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=320–322 |doi=10.1177/1754073911402385|s2cid=19273270 }}</ref> A large body of research also suggests that engaging in prosocial behavior can increase happiness.<ref name="Aknin2021">{{cite journal |last1=Aknin |first1=Lara B. |last2=Whillans |first2=Ashley V. |title=Helping and Happiness: A Review and Guide for Public Policy |journal=Social Issues and Policy Review |date=January 2021 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=3–34 |doi=10.1111/sipr.12069|s2cid=225505120 }}</ref><ref name="Hui2020">{{cite journal |last1=Hui |first1=Bryant P. H. |last2=Ng |first2=Jacky C. K. |last3=Berzaghi |first3=Erica |last4=Cunningham-Amos |first4=Lauren A. |last5=Kogan |first5=Aleksandr |title=Rewards of kindness? A meta-analysis of the link between prosociality and well-being. |journal=Psychological Bulletin |date=December 2020 |volume=146 |issue=12 |pages=1084–1116 |doi=10.1037/bul0000298|pmid=32881540 |s2cid=221497259 }}</ref><ref name="Curry2018">{{cite journal |last1=Curry |first1=Oliver Scott |last2=Rowland |first2=Lee A. |last3=Van Lissa |first3=Caspar J. |last4=Zlotowitz |first4=Sally |last5=McAlaney |first5=John |last6=Whitehouse |first6=Harvey |title=Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |date=May 2018 |volume=76 |pages=320–329 |doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2018.02.014|s2cid=76658949 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Ethics===
[[Ethics|Ethicists]] have made arguments for how humans should behave, either individually or collectively, based on the resulting happiness of such behavior. [[Utilitarian]]s, such as [[John Stuart Mill]] and [[Jeremy Bentham]], advocated the [[greatest happiness principle]] as a guide for ethical behavior. This principle states that actions are proportionately right or wrong by how much happiness or unhappiness they bring. Mill defines happiness as that which brings about an intended pleasure and avoids an unnecessary pain, and he defines unhappiness as the reverse, namely an action that brings about pain and not pleasure. He is quick to specify that pleasure and pain are to be understood in an [[Epicureanism|Epicurean]] light, referring chiefly to the higher human pleasures of increased intellect, feelings, and moral sentiments not what one might call beastly pleasures of mere animal appetites.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mill |first1=John Stuart |title=Utilitarianism |date=1879 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11224/11224-h/11224-h.htm |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415023633/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11224/11224-h/11224-h.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Critics of this view include [[Thomas Carlyle]], [[Ferdinand Tönnies]] and others within the German philosophical tradition. They posit that a greater happiness is to be found in choosing to suffer for others, rather than allowing others to suffer for them, declaring this to be a form of satisfying, and heroic, nobility.<ref>{{Citation |last=Bond |first=Niall |title=Trust and Happiness in Ferdinand Tönnies' Community and Society |date=22 November 2017 |url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004353671/B9789004353671_012.xml |work=Trust and Happiness in the History of European Political Thought |pages=221–235 |editor-last=Kontler |editor-first=Laszlo |publisher=BRILL |doi=10.1163/9789004353671_012 |isbn=978-90-04-35366-4 |access-date=16 February 2023 |editor2-last=Somos |editor2-first=Mark |archive-date=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420033901/https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004353671/B9789004353671_012.xml |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many studies have observed the effects of [[Volunteering|volunteerism]] (as a form of altruism) on happiness and health and have consistently found that those who exhibit volunteerism also have better current and future health and well-being.<ref name="volunteer12">{{cite journal |last1=Musick |first1=M. A. |last2=Wilson |first2=J. |year=2003 |title=Volunteering and depression: The role of psychological and social resources in different age groups |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=259–269 |doi=10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00025-4 |pmid=12473312}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koenig |first1=L. B. |last2=McGue |first2=M. |last3=Krueger |first3=R. F. |last4=Bouchard |year=2007 |title=Religiousness, antisocial behavior, and altruism: Genetic and environmental mediation |journal=Journal of Personality |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=265–290 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00439.x |pmid=17359239}}</ref> In a study of older adults, those who volunteered had higher life satisfaction and will to live, and less [[Depression (mood)|depression]], [[Anxiety (mood)|anxiety]], and [[somatization]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hunter |first1=K. I. |last2=Hunter |first2=M. W. |year=1980 |title=Psychosocial differences between elderly volunteers and non-volunteers |journal=The International Journal of Aging & Human Development |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=205–213 |doi=10.2190/0H6V-QPPP-7JK4-LR38 |pmid=7216525 |s2cid=42991434}}</ref> Volunteerism and helping behavior have not only been shown to improve mental health but physical health and longevity as well, attributable to the activity and social integration it encourages.<ref name="volunteer12" /><ref>{{multiref2|{{cite journal | last1 = Kayloe | first1 = J. C. | last2 = Krause | first2 = M. | year = 1985 | title = RARE FIND: or The value of volunteerism | journal = Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal | volume = 8 | issue = 4| pages = 49–56 | doi=10.1037/h0099659}}|{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=S. L.|last2=Brown|first2=R.|last3=House|first3=J. S.|last4=Smith|first4=D. M.|year=2008|title=Coping with spousal loss: Potential buffering effects of self-reported helping behavior|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|volume=34|issue=6|pages=849–861|doi=10.1177/0146167208314972|pmid=18344495|s2cid=42983453}}
}}</ref><ref name="volunteer52">{{cite journal |last1=Post |first1=S. G. |year=2005 |title=Altruism, Happiness, and Health: It's Good to Be Good |journal=International Journal of Behavioral Medicine |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=66–77 |citeseerx=10.1.1.485.8406 |doi=10.1207/s15327558ijbm1202_4 |pmid=15901215 |s2cid=12544814}}</ref> One study examined the physical health of mothers who volunteered over 30 years and found that 52% of those who did not belong to a volunteer organization experienced a major illness while only 36% of those who did volunteer experienced one.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moen |first1=P. |last2=Dempster-Mcclain |first2=D. |last3=Williams |first3=R. M. |year=1992 |title=Successful aging: A life-course perspective on women's multiple roles and health |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=97 |issue=6 |pages=1612–1638 |doi=10.1086/229941 |s2cid=4828775}}</ref> A study on adults aged 55 and older found that during the four-year study period, people who volunteered for two or more organizations had a 63% lower likelihood of dying. After controlling for prior health status, it was determined that volunteerism accounted for a 44% reduction in mortality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oman |first1=D. |last2=Thoresen |first2=C. E. |last3=McMahon |first3=K. |year=1999 |title=Volunteerism and mortality among the community-dwelling elderly |journal=Journal of Health Psychology |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=301–316 |doi=10.1177/135910539900400301 |pmid=22021599 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Aristotle===
Aristotle described ''[[eudaimonia]]'' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]]: [[:Wiktionary:εὐδαιμονία|εὐδαιμονία]]) as the goal of human thought and action. Eudaimonia is often translated to mean happiness, but some scholars contend that "human flourishing" may be a more accurate translation.<ref>{{cite book | last=Robinson | first=Daniel N. | title=Aristotle's psychology | publisher=Joe Christensen Inc | year=1999 | isbn=978-0967206608 | oclc=48601517 | page=}}</ref> Aristotle's use of the term in Nicomachiean Ethics extends beyond the general sense of happiness.<ref>Bartlett, R. C., & Collins, S. D. (2011). ''Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|9780226026749}}{{page needed|date=April 2022}}</ref>

In the ''[[Nicomachean Ethics]]'', written in 350 BCE, [[Aristotle]] stated that happiness (also being well and doing well) is the only thing that humans desire for their own sake, unlike riches, honour, health or friendship. He observed that men sought riches, or honour, or health not only for their own sake but also in order to be happy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reece |first=Bryan |date=2019 |title=Happiness According to Aristotle |url=https://research-bulletin.chs.harvard.edu/2019/03/15/happiness-aristotle/ |website=Research Bulletin |access-date=23 March 2022 |archive-date=5 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805024202/https://research-bulletin.chs.harvard.edu/2019/03/15/happiness-aristotle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> For Aristotle the term ''[[eudaimonia]]'', which is translated as 'happiness' or 'flourishing' is an activity rather than an emotion or a state.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Aristotle And His Definition Of Happiness – Overview|url=https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/aristotle/#:~:text=According%20to%20Aristotle,%20happiness%20consists,which%20may%20be%20very%20difficult.|access-date=18 March 2021|website=www.pursuit-of-happiness.org| date=25 March 2010 }}</ref> Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία) is a classical Greek word consists of the word "eu" ("good" or "well-being") and "daimōn" ("spirit" or "minor deity", used by extension to mean one's lot or fortune). Thus understood, the happy life is the good life, that is, a life in which a person fulfills human nature in an excellent way.<ref name="Negotiating the Good Life">{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781315248233-2 |chapter=Revisiting Aristotle: In Pursuit of Happiness |title=Negotiating the Good Life |year=2017 |pages=15–46 |isbn=978-1315248233 }}</ref>

Specifically, Aristotle argued that the good life is the life of excellent rational activity. He arrived at this claim with the "Function Argument". Basically, if it is right, every living thing has a function, that which it uniquely does. For Aristotle human function is to reason, since it is that alone which humans uniquely do. And performing one's function well, or excellently, is good. According to Aristotle, the life of excellent rational activity is the happy life. Aristotle argued a second-best life for those incapable of excellent rational activity was the life of moral virtue.<ref name="Negotiating the Good Life"/>

The key question Aristotle seeks to answer is "What is the ultimate purpose of human existence?" A lot of people are seeking pleasure, health, and a good reputation. It is true that those have a value, but none of them can occupy the place of the greatest good for which humanity aims. It may seem like all goods are a means to obtain happiness, but Aristotle said that happiness is always an end in itself.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dopico |first=Alex |date=9 October 2018 |title=What is the purpose of happiness in human existence? |website=JANETPANIC.COM }}</ref>

===Nietzsche===
[[Friedrich Nietzsche]] critiqued the English [[Utilitarianism|Utilitarians]]' focus on attaining the greatest happiness, stating that "Man does not strive for happiness, only the Englishman does".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nietzsche |first=Friedrich |title=Twilight of the Idols |publisher=OUP Oxford |year=1889 |isbn=978-0140445145 |pages=1 |language=English}}</ref> Nietzsche meant that making happiness one's ultimate ''goal'' and the aim of one's existence, in his words "makes one contemptible." Nietzsche instead yearned for a culture that would set higher, more difficult goals than "mere happiness." He introduced the quasi-dystopic figure of the "last man" as a kind of [[thought experiment]] against the utilitarians and happiness-seekers.<ref name="plato.stanford.edu">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche-moral-political/|title=Nietzsche's Moral and Political Philosophy|encyclopedia=stanford.edu|access-date=10 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112064629/http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche-moral-political/|archive-date=12 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web|title=Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)|url=http://www.iep.utm.edu/nietzsch/|website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|access-date=10 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815204318/http://www.iep.utm.edu/nietzsch/|archive-date=15 August 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

These small, "last men" who seek after only their own pleasure and health, avoiding all danger, exertion, difficulty, challenge, struggle are meant to seem contemptible to Nietzsche's reader. Nietzsche instead wants us to consider the value of what is difficult, what can only be earned through struggle, difficulty, pain and thus to come to see the affirmative value suffering and ''unhappiness'' truly play in creating everything of great worth in life, including all the highest achievements of human culture, not least of all philosophy.<ref name="plato.stanford.edu"/><ref name="auto2"/>