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Philosophy Essay (Morality) Education Level: Undergraduate Hedonic Happiness Versus Eudemonic Happiness 4 pages (1200 words) Morality: Hedonic and Eudemonic Happiness Introduction Happiness is a vital phenomenon in every individual’s life; hence, people diligently pursue it in numerous complicated and complex ways. Happiness has long acquired many definitions from different people based on what they feel more inclined to do. For this reason, many individuals seek happiness in education, possession, relationships, and other forms of pleasure. Regardless of an individual’s definition or understanding of happiness, every person falls into being a seeker of either hedonic or eudemonic happiness. The paper will discuss our culture through the constructs of hedonic and eudemonic happiness using Jonathan Sacks’ lens of pursuing hedonic and eudemonic happiness in contemporary society.
The Difference Between Hedonic and Eudemonic Happiness With Examples of Both Approaches Hedonic happiness is a temporary feeling of joy and pleasure, while eudemonic happiness is a lasting feeling resulting from a meaningful, worthy, and good life. Additionally, the idea of hedonic happiness revolves around maximizing pleasure while minimizing pain at the expense of some virtues (Giuntoli et al., 2021). On the other hand, the idea of eudemonic happiness involves the concept of achieving happiness as long as it is per an individual’s virtues. When using the eudemonic lens to view happiness, an individual is only happy or can only be termed happy when the individual’s current state or method of happiness is in harmony with the individual’s beliefs or morals (Giuntoli et al., 2021). For example, an individual might long to possess a car, a condition that may bring joy and happiness to the individual; however, if the individual acquires the car through fraud, believing fraud is a vice, the individual is not yet happy in a ‘eudemonic happiness’ sense regardless of getting what they wanted (Sacks, 2020). It is, therefore, safe to conclude that eudemonic happiness is interwoven with an individual’s morals at the core. Since hedonic happiness’ objective is to achieve as much pleasure as imaginably possible with little to no pain, the concept of morals and virtue often takes a back. Many individuals who emphasize hedonic happiness often exhibit an immense and obsessive drive to accumulate wealth and possessions and tirelessly make every moment with friends, relatives, and family memorable (Giuntoli et al., 2021). While seeking immeasurable joy and pleasure from various things, these individuals may sacrifice their morals and virtue if the feedback for their efforts is contrary to what they expected (Giuntoli et al., 2021). For example, an individual might be so overwhelmed with acquiring a particular product that they lie to a colleague to get money and buy it just to enjoy possessing it. Another example is when people get into debt and spend more than they have just to taste the feeling of having what they desire.
Why It Is Better, In My Opinion, for a Culture To Pursue Eudemonic Happiness In my opinion, it is better for a culture to pursue eudemonic happiness because in it dwells a constant reference to morality, which is what the world needs. Since eudemonic happiness emphasizes a meaningful, worthy, and good life, a culture that pursues such happiness will also enjoy meaningful and worthy relationships (Sacks, 2020). When a society is conditioned to think about happiness as possible through meaningful interactions focusing on personal benefits and the community's general well-being, the society will experience true happiness and reduce rivalry in the struggle for power or possession (Sacks, 2020). The presence of virtue makes the world a favorable place to live in, and the same virtue that will make any culture stable and safe if virtue becomes the bedrock of that culture’s undertakings (Giuntoli et al., 2021). Just because an individual can perform an activity and achieve pleasure does not mean that the activity will contribute to well-being and happiness because happiness and true joy go beyond pleasure but are rooted in morals and virtue. Individuals can still achieve happiness without enormous amounts of possessions and wealth. A culture that teaches and understands this becomes firm against the acts that prevent a peaceful and harmonious co-existence. A culture should pursue eudemonic happiness, which emphasizes morals and virtue, rather than a form of happiness that focuses on pleasure achievable through heinous actions and crime (Sacks, 2020). For example, if for the sake of achieving a temporary feeling of joy, like the feeling of euphoria when individuals go sky-diving, an individual indulges in illegal drugs and commits a crime, then the pursuit of hedonic happiness becomes harmful (Giuntoli et al., 2021). Additionally, it is better for a culture to pursue eudemonic happiness because people can only enjoy what they already have if they are satisfied with it and do not focus on adding more wealth at the expense of their morals or beliefs.
Conclusion Eudemonic and hedonic happiness explain happiness depending on an individual’s drive toward happiness. Most individuals seeking temporary pleasure will often experience hedonic happiness. Individuals experiencing eudemonic happiness can still experience hedonic happiness; however, the difference is that hedonic happiness comes from the dynamics in life, and they do not go out looking for it. When individuals excessively pursue hedonic happiness at the expense of embracing spontaneity, the dark sides of such motives as stealing, crime, and selfishness emerge, making life more challenging and unfulfilling.
