Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [happiness]

75 questions
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Does happiness motivate every action?

Pascal wrote: All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views.…
Jon 'links in bio' Ericson
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Do humans need some agency over the world around them for their lives to have some sense or purpose?

This is a follow up to this question I was told to revise: If all work is automated, what will humans be able to do? After consideration I think that the only way to salvage that question is to break it up into more questions, so this is the first…
gaazkam
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Do all systems of ethics boil down to maximizing pleasure and/or minimizing suffering?

I'm struggling to think of one that doesn't. Utilitarianism obviously does, but even others seem to. Take Kant's categorical imperative for example. What is the point in performing one's perfect duties? For instance, in the example given by…
Ryan_L
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Moral Duty and Happiness: Are Both Achievable?

I have studied a little Philosophy and done a lot of thinking about moral duty, individualism and communities. I have come to the belief that it is one person's duty to assist the community event at risk to himself. This doesn't include dying or…
IAE
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Where did Kant say that "happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination"?

Can somebody tell me where this famous quote comes from? I mean in which book and on which page. I want to find this in German. If someone can provide the quote in German the way Kant wrote it, I would be grateful!
dorianp
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How much suffering is needed for an overall happy life?

Premise: I have not studied Philosophy, and maybe I am out of context. My question arises from two simple considerations: Empirically, there seems to be no true happiness without some suffering (extreme example: happiness given by chemical drugs is…
rod
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Can happiness be purely a state of mind?

Are there any mainstream philosophers (I assume it is meaningful to define such a subset of philosophers!) who argue that happiness can be a self-induced frame of mind? To put the question another way, can a state of happiness be attained by…
Marco Ocram
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How is knowing that I am going to die influencing my life?

Does the fact that I know I am going to die make me superior in a sense to all the other living creatures that have no understanding of this event? Is the fact that I know that one day I am going to die a good thing for me? One could argue that…
Cristian
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Should happiness be attained by reforming the world around us for the better or by accepting it as it is?

Two of the most influent philosophers in the antiquity proposed different perspectives on how we should attain happiness: Plato and Epictetus. Plato points out that our civilization contains fundamental imperfections that will eventually lead it to…
trigress09
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How might one counter Bertrand Russell's criticism of Stoicism as "not true" and "insincere"?

Reading about Stoicism, I have encountered a criticism to which I cannot form a strong counter-argument. Did anyone or can anyone provide a rebuttal to the following argument against Stoicism? There is, in fact, an element of sour grapes in…
adamaero
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Are pursuing the well-being and reducing the suffering of sentient beings objectively good things?

I think most people intuitively agree that increasing their own well-being and minimizing their own suffering are the right things to do. Everyone wants to be happy, enjoy a good health, etc. The whole Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a thing for a…
user48437
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If happiness is relative, why would I want to get more of it?

In my philosophy class, we talked about Aristotle and how he defined true happiness. For him, true happiness is acquired when you know yourself and accomplish yourself and false happiness is simply people that don't know themselves and think they…
Winter
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Do experiences need to be "real" to be worthwhile or desireable?

This is an offshoot of another discussion: Can "expected future happiness" be quantified, or at least ranked among alternative futures?, where both respondents brought up the concept of the undersireabilty of inducing happiness artificially. An…
user4634
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How to live the present instead of just surviving?

When I was younger, I always tried to imagine how my future would be, and how it would feel like. I tried to imagine how my relationships would be, how my house would be, what my job would be, etc., and I tried to feel a different sensation, a good…
Rafs V.
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Would Utilitarianism say that surveillance of the public is wrong?

If surveillance results in fear from the majority of the public, will Utilitarianism reject surveillance of the public for security reasons? I'm assuming this because Utilitarianism calls an action moral or right if it increases happiness for the…
stevetronix
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