Happiness for its own sake

Originally posted by @js357
That’s a pretty strong vote for wisdom being the proper WAY to happiness, yet happiness is there as the stated payoff.

That's the way I read it. Happiness is a consequence of wisdom and understanding applied.

Originally posted by @josephw
That's the way I read it. Happiness is a consequence of wisdom and understanding applied.

Okay what happened to RedHotPawn I agree again! 😉

Originally posted by @josephw
That's the way I read it. Happiness is a consequence of wisdom and understanding applied.

There is a case to be made for 'ignorance' being the true path to happiness, if 'wisdom' brings one to the realisation that life is temporal and finite. Better surely to be unaware of this truth and live one's life in blissful ignorance. (Like my cat).

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
There is a case to be made for 'ignorance' being the true path to happiness, if 'wisdom' brings one to the realisation that life is temporal and finite. Better surely to be unaware of this truth and live one's life in blissful ignorance. (Like my cat).

Ecclesiastes 1:13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!

Stop agreeing with the Bible!

People will begin to talk.

Originally posted by @whodey
Ecclesiastes 1:13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!

Stop agreeing with the Bible!

People will begin to talk.

Thanks to evolution old chap, people began to talk quite some time ago.

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
There is a case to be made for 'ignorance' being the true path to happiness, if 'wisdom' brings one to the realisation that life is temporal and finite. Better surely to be unaware of this truth and live one's life in blissful ignorance. (Like my cat).

Do you mean a person can be happy and not even know why?

Heavily sedated thumb twiddlers.

Originally posted by @josephw
Do you mean a person can be happy and not even know why?

Of course.

And some can be unhappy and not know why.

Where do you fit in?

Originally posted by @js357
It is said by some that personal happiness is the one thing we choose or prefer for its own sake and not as a means to another end.

Among alternatives we might consider truth, beauty, satori (or enlightenment), salvation, faith, freedom, etc.

Some say that pursuing happiness for itself doesn’t work out, it is better to have a more altruistic aim than pe ...[text shortened]... es realists say the pursuit of happiness underlies all these supposed alternatives.

Thoughts?

It prompts the question: What is happiness?

Peace
Companionship
Hope
Love

Originally posted by @divegeester
It prompts the question: What is happiness?

It's some combination of dopamine and oxytocin, plus serotonin, and some endorphins.

Originally posted by @josephw
Do you mean a person can be happy and not even know why?

Heavily sedated thumb twiddlers.

My cat is thoroughly content and happy while she washes herself on the windowsill, her belly full of cream. (A feline head void of any knowledge about mortality and suffering).

Perhaps happiness is simply to live in the moment with no regret of yesterday or fear of tomorrow...

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
My cat is thoroughly content and happy while she washes herself on the windowsill, her belly full of cream. (A feline head void of any knowledge about mortality and suffering).

Perhaps happiness is simply to live in the moment with no regret of yesterday or fear of tomorrow...

I think you are right.
It is an emotion of the moment.
Happiness is something we have fleetingly through the day if we are lucky or through our lives.
As soon as we start thinking about it, it is gone.

Originally posted by @wolfgang59
I think you are right.
It is an emotion of the moment.
Happiness is something we have fleetingly through the day if we are lucky or through our lives.
As soon as we start thinking about it, it is gone.

A moment white, then melts forever😵

Originally posted by @wolfgang59
Of course.

And some can be unhappy and not know why.

Where do you fit in?

Somewhere between, and I don't know why.

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
My cat is thoroughly content and happy while she washes herself on the windowsill, her belly full of cream. (A feline head void of any knowledge about mortality and suffering).

Perhaps happiness is simply to live in the moment with no regret of yesterday or fear of tomorrow...

So, do you think happiness is a state of wellbeing contingent on the absence of thought about current circumstances?

If only we, like our cats, lacked the capacity of reason.

Since man can reason I think we need a reason to be happy.

Originally posted by @josephw
So, do you think happiness is a state of wellbeing contingent on the absence of thought about current circumstances?

If only we, like our cats, lacked the capacity of reason.

Since man can reason I think we need a reason to be happy.

You can't rationalise happiness.

Marx said 'religion' was the opium of the masses, that dulled peoples senses to the hardships of existence. With this in mind, we could just as well replace 'happiness' in your statement for 'religious faith,' giving us:

'Religious faith is a state of wellbeing contingent on the absence of thought about current circumstances.'