What is Happiness?
What do we know about happiness? Is it satisfaction, excitement, pleasure, all of the above or in a category by itself? Does happiness depend on circumstances, or can one be happy under any circumstance? What are the obstacles to happiness? How do we explain the transitory, fleeting nature of happiness? Are there different kinds of happiness and are they all desirable? What is the relationship between happiness and intoxication? Are we at risk of losing motivation should we attain lasting happiness? Is happiness a destination or is a property of the path?
Participants: Billie Lagerwerff, Carole Abel, Derek Breen, John Tytus, Ken Thompson, Mike Grosso, Paul Beckert, U.J. Fields
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Listen to the broadcast (mp3)In our next podcast we will discuss: Suffering and Creativity. Stay tuned.
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posted by Anonymous @ 8:42 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I just listened to “Citizen Philosopher’s” podcast, which asks, "what is happiness". One of the participants, a man with a Louisiana accent, most closely sated my belief – which is that happiness is a state of being. For me, this came by way of choosing a path and following that path into whatever realm it took me. And that realm has been broadly and deeply defined and explored.
Additionally, happiness comes in different packages and in different ways. Most profoundly, happiness is a state of being, but it may simultaneously be momentary, and may also simultaneously be of me and/or of others. Attaining happiness might be finding your equilibrium in that state, and enhancing it or working toward it may be in owning one or more of the simultaneous ways while accepting the others or remaining ignorant of them.
My children make me happy without effort, so if it was Socrates or Aristotle that claimed happiness an activity, well, I humbly disagree, unless I misunderstand activity. At the same time as my happiness state of being exists, events make me happy, e.g. recognition of a job well done, an unexpectedly great jam on My Country Tis Of Thee, recognition of my wife's greatness, comedy among other events.
While many of us are in a state of happiness (which in some elements adds, and in other subtracts from our goals - not our state), some of us are not due to abnormalities, such as a permanent chemical imbalance or a temporary trauma. Over time, people strive for happiness however they may attain it.
I wanted to participate, and wriote the anonymous comment just posted.
Hello Brooklyn,
Thank you for your comments. I am not sure which of our participants you identified with, but I will alert all of them to your insights.
To participate in our discussions live, you will need a free program called Skype which you can download here: http://www.skype.com/download/. Once you have Skype installed, you can contact me through my Skype ID which is citizenphilosopher.
Our next live discussion is June 6th. I will post the Skypecast address on this blog, so you and other Skype users can participate.
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