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Happiness as the Goal of a Good Life

 In the eighteenth century, John Stuart Mill declared the Greatest Happiness Principle by saying that an action is right as far as it is maximizes the attainment of happiness for the greatest number of people. At a time when people were skeptical about claims on the metaphysical, people could not make sense of human flourishing that Aristotle talked about in the days of old. Mill said that individual happiness of each individual should be prioritized and collectively dictates the kind of action that should be endorsed. Consider the pronouncements against mining. When an action benefits the greatest number of people, said action is deemed ethical. Does mining benefit rather than hurt the majority? Does it offer more benefits rather than disadvantages? Does mining result in more people getting happy rather sad? If the answers to the said questions are in the affirmative, then the said action, mining, is deemed ethical.

The ethical, is of course, meant to lead us to the good and happy life. Through the ages, as has been expounded in the previous chapters, man has constantly struggle with the external world in order to reach human flourishing. History has given birth to different schools of thought, all of which aim for good and happy life.

Materialism

The first materialists were the atomists in Ancient Greece. Democritus and Leucippus led a school whose primarily belief is that the world is made up of and is controlled by the tiny indivisible units in the world called atomos or seeds. For Democritus and his disciples, the world, including human beings, is made up of matter. There is no need to posit immaterial entities as sources of purpose. Atomos simply comes together randomly to form the things in the world. As such, only material entities matter. In terms of human flourishing, matter is what makes us attain happiness. We see this at work with most people who are clinging on to material wealth as the primary source of the meaning of their existence.

Hedonism 

 The hedonists, for their part, see the end goal of life in acquiring pleasure. Pleasure has always been the priority of hedonists. For them, life is about obtaining and indulging in pleasure because life is limited. The mantra of this school of thought is the famous, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” Led by Epecurus, this school of thought also does not by any notion of afterlife just like the materialists.

Stoicism

Another school of thought led by Epicurus, the stoics espoused the idea that to generate happiness, one must learn to distance oneself and be apathetic. The original term, apatheia, precisely means to be indifferent. For the stoics, happiness can only be attained by a careful practice of apathy. We should, in this worldview, adopt the fact that some things are not within our control. The sooner we realize this, the happier we can become.

Theism

Most people find the meaning of their lives using God as a fulcrum of their existence. The Philippines, as a predominantly Catholic country, is witness to how people based their life goals in beliefs that hinged on some form of supernatural reality called heaven. The ultimate basis of happiness for theists is the communion with God. The world where we are in is only just a temporary reality where we have to maneuver around while waiting for the ultimate return to the hands of God.

Humanism

Humanism is another school of thought espouses the freedom of man to carve his own destiny and to legislate his own laws, free from the shackles of a God that monitors and controls. For humanism, man is literally the captain of his own ship. Inspired by the enlightenment in seventeenth century, humanists see themselves not merely as stewards of the creation but as individuals who are in control of themselves and the world outside them. This is the spirit of most scientists who thought that the world is a place and space for freely unearthing the world in seeking for ways on how to improve the lives of its inhabitants.

As a result of the motivation of the humanist current, scientists eventually turned to technology in order to ease the difficulty of life as illustrated in the previous lessons. Scientists of today meanwhile are ready to confront more sophisticated attempts at altering the world for the benefit of humanity. Some people now are willing to tamper with time and space in the name of technology. Social media, as an example, has been so far a very effective way of employing technology in purging time and space. Not very long ago, communication between two people from two continents in the planet will involve months of waiting for a mail to arrive. Seeing each other real time while talking was virtually impossible. Now, communication between two people wherever they are, is not just possible but easy. The Internet and smart phones made real-time communication possible not just between two people, but even with multiple people simultaneously.

Technology allows us to tinker with our sexuality. Biologically male individuals can now undergo medical operation if they so wish for a sexual reassignment. Breasts implants are now available and can be done with relative convenience if anyone wishes to have one. Hormones may also be injected in order to alter the sexual chemicals in the body.

Whether or we agree with these technological advancements, these are all undertaken in the hopes of attaining the good life. The balance, however, between the good life, ethics, and technology has to be attained.