HOW CAN OUR PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS BE HARMFUL?

ByGirisha

Pursuing happiness seems to be harmless, a positive goal which can cause no harm. It is safe to say that the pursuit of happiness is a common one, it is what drives people and inspires them, and many people make it one of their lives’ many goals: to achieve the greatest amount of happiness they can.

However, this pursuit of happiness is not as harmless as it seems. If we continue to yearn for it in this way, it could become very harmful.

First, we must understand what happiness is. Plato stated that it is “the enjoyment of what is good and beautiful” whereas Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady, said that “happiness is not a goal, it is a byproduct.” It can be split into two categories, hedonic and eudaimonic. The first meaning the greatest amount of pleasure brings the greatest amount of happiness, and the second being a broader idea of happiness being achieved through experiences and connections, these two build the basis of research on happiness.

Pursuing happiness can become a harmful obsession, the desire to feel happy at all times will set us up for failure. By highlighting the absence of happiness from our lives, we consequently make ourselves feel less happy, wondering why we aren’t happy, a repetitive and damaging cycle.

John Stuart Mill, someone who was taught and raised in accordance with utilitarianism at an early age, became severely depressed later in life. During this time, Mill realised that humans should aim for other goods, and happiness is a “felicitous by-product." This supports Roosevelt’s words, as well as the argument that pursuing happiness should not be our goal.

Focusing on ourselves and single-mindedly pursuing happiness could, ironically enough, cause us to be less happy. This is because we often isolate ourselves to achieve this happiness, which decreases our social support and thus decreasing our happiness. It is proven that social interactions and social support increases our overall level of happiness, so, by distancing ourselves from this, we create a negative impact on our happiness.

Robert Nozick, an American Philosopher created a thought experiment which was intended to prove that the view of happiness being the highest good was mistaken. He created a hypothetical machine that would allow anyone to experience anything they ever wanted and fulfil their dreams. It would all be a simulation, but Nozick asks if you would plug in. He believes that most people would choose not to lug in, as achieving those things in reality is much more rewarding that doing so through a simulation.

Nozick was right, as most people chose to not step into the machine. However, this proves that if people are willing to sacrifice endless and limitless pleasure for real pleasure, then happiness isn’t the highest good. This would also mean that the 81% of Americans who choose happiness over great achievements were wrong, as it was just proven that happiness is not the greatest good.

Overall, our pursuit for happiness leads us to believe that happiness is the greatest good, and that to live a fulfilling life, we must pursue happiness. However, happiness is achieved as a consequence or a byproduct, we do not know what makes us happy. We must learn how to achieve happiness through great accomplishments, social interactions, and experiences in our life, not just blindly pursue an intangible goal. Achieving happiness is possible, but the way that modern-day happiness is desired and described is harmful.