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The 69 tips — one for each year of the author's life — are thought-provoking, challenging, eye-opening, manageable and fun to read. And all provide practical guidance for intelligently designing your own life-style evolution.
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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Theories of Happiness

Monday September 15, 2003

Gilbert White discovered the formula for complete happiness, but he died before making the announcement, leaving it for me to do so. It is to be very busy with the unimportant.
A. Edward Newton, The Book Collecting Game, 1928

There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball,
And that is to have either a clear conscience, or none at all.
Ogden Nash

Seligman and Royzman, in a July 2003 newsletter article entitled "Happiness: The Three Traditional Theories," use the terms hedonism, desire and objective list to designate "theories" on the nature of happiness. Hedonism is described as a feeling outlook. In this theory of happiness; a happy life is one of maximum pleasure, minimum pain. Its intellectual inspiration is utilitarianism, rooted in the works of Jeremy Betham. Desire is a matter of getting what you want. I suppose everyone would be happy holding this construct provided he/she did not want very much. Desire theory places the realization of whatever the desire is (to rule the world, be elected mayor or whatever) above that of experiencing pleasure, though one might assume that achieving a heart's desire would be rather pleasurable. Otherwise, what would motivate the desire? Wittgenstein is cited as a writer who, by extolling truth, illumination, struggle and purity, contributed to this theory. Objective list relates to such things as "career accomplishments, friendship, and relief from pain, material comforts, civic spirit, beauty, education, love, knowledge, and good conscience." In fact, it seems the three perspectives overlap so much as to be of little use to understand the nature of or the best approaches to happiness.

Seligman's suggests there are three distinct traditions or elements of "authentic happiness," namely, the pleasures of a pleasant life, the engagement of the good life, and the meaningful life. All are subjective, though Seligman would have us believe the latter can be partly objective. The meaningful life is simply a term for the wellness dimension of meaning and purpose. Seligman's description of it mirrors that of Frankl and others. The bottom line seems to be this: happiness ensues from "belonging to and serving what is larger and more worthwhile," it does not follow from seeking "the self's pleasures and desires." Reach out and be of service--this is the surest way to happiness.

Of course, all six of these terms interrelate and complement each other. The pleasant life is somewhat hedonistic, the good life is filled with desire, and the meaningful life must encompass happiness. Naturally, the forms happiness takes vary considerably within individuals and cultures.

For a commentary on happiness from a wellness perspective, see my essay from Monday, January 14, 2002 entitled Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness In A Wellness Context.

Be well. Always look on the bright side of life.

Domain: purpose
Subdomain: meaning and purpose

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