| What is happiness? What do we mean by this term | | | | momentary pleasure, but from human growth. He |
| and how do we attain it? Philosophers, psychologists | | | | attached greater value to pursuits that were important |
| and social scientists, who have been exploring and | | | | to the human race as a whole, rather than the |
| debating this issue for millenia, have concluded that | | | | individual's own pleasure alone. This is a more holistic |
| there are two ways of looking at it: | | | | view, seeing the individual as part of the whole and |
| One is known as the hedonic theory. This suggests | | | | defining happiness as the point at which your own |
| that happiness - or well-being - is entirely about the | | | | fulfillment coincides with that of wider society. This is |
| attainment of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. The | | | | when you live in accordance with your "daimon" i.e. |
| more pleasure you have and the less pain you | | | | "true self". |
| experience, the happier you are and the greater your | | | | Working as a psychiatrist, I often see the darker side - |
| well being. Simple. | | | | i.e. the unhappiness that swirls around us and it is clear |
| On the other side is the Eudaimonic theory. This | | | | to me that any attempt to lead a life on hedonistic |
| focuses on meaning, and defines well-being in terms of | | | | principles alone is ultimately doomed to failure. To |
| self realization, i.e. the extent to which we are fulfilling | | | | always strive to maximize pleasure and avoid pain is in |
| our potential in life. | | | | itself a way of inviting pain. Take, for example, the |
| The hedonic view goes all the way back to the Greek | | | | phenomenon of bipolar disorder. The crashing into |
| philosopher, Aristippus, who in the fourth century B.C., | | | | depression is an inevitable consequence of |
| described the ultimate goal in life as experiencing the | | | | experiencing episodes of mania. This is so inevitable |
| maximum amount of pleasure. He defined happiness | | | | that, in fact, it is physically impossible to experience |
| as the sum total of the hedonic moments you have | | | | mania without an episode of depression at some point |
| had in life. Other philosophers have added to this notion | | | | in life too. That is why bipolar disorder is a well known |
| since; Hobbes argued that happiness was all about | | | | clinical disorder but there is no such thing as pure |
| successfully pursuing our human appetites, while | | | | mania. |
| DeSade suggest that the purpose of life was the | | | | A bit like an economy that spins out of control (as it |
| pursuit of sensation and pleasure. Hedonism has | | | | recently did), the crash is always round the corner. |
| ultimately come to be defined as subjective well being. | | | | Hedonism as a route to happiness is, therefore, illusory. |
| The Eudaimonic view counts among its supporters, not | | | | Far more tangible and sustainable is the happiness one |
| just philosophers and psychologists but visionaries | | | | gains by making a difference, by putting our unique |
| including spiritual and religious teachers from both East | | | | make up, perspectives and talents to use and thus |
| and West. Aristotle believed that true happiness was | | | | helping others as well as ourselves. It may not come |
| to be found in the expression of virtue - i.e. in doing that | | | | with a rush, but it comes with something a lot deeper |
| which was worth doing. More recently Fromm | | | | instead - true happiness - or, rather, contentment. |
| described true happiness as deriving, not from | | | | |