The Philosophy of Happiness

In our daily lives, we constantly hear about the topic of happiness. Many people claim that they want to be happy, that they want to achieve happiness, or that they are unhappy. This leads us to reflect on the following questions: Is happiness an objective or subjective concept? Is there "the happiness" or does everyone have their own concept of what it is to be happy? Faced with these doubts, the tendency is to try to deny the existence of happiness. Dangerous temptation, because sometimes it is easier to deny happiness than to accept that it exists and recognize that we do not possess it... We are facing a borderline situation... little discussed and that is almost not reflected in our daily routine ... Have you ever stopped to think about what happiness is? Have you ever wondered why everyone wants you or believes in your existence?

Since Ancient Greece, philosophers have been concerned with the question of happiness. In particular, a great philosopher named Aristotle already postulated important considerations on this subject. According to him, all things that exist tend toward an end. Man, in turn, also exists for one purpose: "to be happy." In this sense, Aristotle notes that there is a great consensus among men: "Everyone wants to be happy"; but there is also a great descent among them: "What is Happiness?" As the author himself states in his work Nicomachean Ethics: "Everyone is in agreement and says that happiness is the end of man and identifies the good living and the good acting with the happy being. But they differ as to what happiness is, the limited man does not conceive of it in the same way as the wise." As such, not all men understand happiness in a similar way.

To solve this dilemma, Aristotle states that the truly happy man is one who acts according to his own nature, that is, who acts rationally and aims to be virtuous, since for this Greek philosopher, the essence of man is his reason, for everyone tends to know. But what is our nature in fact? Many say we are essentially good beings, others say we are naturally evil and selfish. But we can also believe that we are unfinished beings... Incomplete... that instead of being born with a pre-established essence, they seek to build this supposed essence in their own existence, in real life, in everyday life. Therefore, we can be both angels and demons. Our nature depends on our choices, and because of this, our happiness will also depend on them.

This is what the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre states in his work "Existentialism is a Humanism": "If truly existence precedes essence, man is responsible for what he is. Thus, the first effort is to place every man in the domain that he is, to assign to him the full responsibility of his existence. And when we say that man is responsible for himself, we do not mean that man is responsible for his restricted individuality, but that he is responsible for all men." In this way, eliminating a pre-defined nature that will tell us what it is to be happy, we can analyze another perspective on the subject, affirming that happiness is found in the way we make our choices, that is, facing life the way it really presents itself, living it intensely with responsibility.

Now, facing life as it presents itself is no easy task. We are beings thrown into existence and we are doomed to make choices. Every possibility of existence assumed means the renunciation of another way of life. In this way, we can hit or miss, win or lose. It all depends on our choices. Anguish is the emotional disposition that accompanies us in this drama of existence. How then to be happy in a reality as harsh as this?

Happiness is not an emotional disposition. To be happy is not to always be joyful. Suffering and anguish are also part of life and happiness itself. If everything in life were just joy, people wouldn't really value happiness... Sometimes you have to cry to know how good it is to smile... You have to miss it to know how much you like someone... Sometimes, when we have everything, nothing seems to have value. Life is constant movement, it is a before, a during, and an after. Therefore, we must live in the moment, without ceasing to look at our past and project ourselves into the future. Difficult moments are an integral part of life and we cannot escape from them. However, these moments are necessary so that we can value happy events and find happiness. It is from this point of view that the philosopher Karl Jaspers points out: "Problems and conflicts can be the source of a defeat, a limitation to our potentiality, but they can also give rise to a greater understanding of life and the birth of a unity that grows stronger with time."

Faced with these points of view, this article comes to the conclusion that happiness should not be understood as a goal dictated by a predefined essence existing in man, or as a feeling. Happiness can be understood as life itself being lived intensely and responsibly in one's own day-to-day choices, whether in joys or sufferings, always seeking to learn from what happens to us. As Erich Fromm puts it: "Seeking happiness is like hunting butterflies: the more you try, the more it flees. However, if you let the butterfly fly and worry about other things, it may even land on your shoulders."