Happiness

Some Distinctions

Three Things There are three things that it’s important to keep separate in a discussion about happiness: Happiness Well-being The good life

Happiness vs. Well-Being Some things are good for you. They make your life go better. Health, friendship, career success, family… happiness? Well-being is what is good for you. It is a normative notion. It doesn’t describe how you are, or what you want, but what is good (for you).

Happiness vs. Well-Being Happiness is not a normative notion; it’s a descriptive, psychological one. You either are or aren’t happy. It’s not part of the concept of happiness that you should be happy. What makes you happy isn’t necessarily good for you; being happy may or may not be good for you.

The Experience Machine An important related thought experiment is the experience machine: someone in the machine might be very happy but have very little of what’s good for them.

Theories of Well-Being Hedonism (see next section) Desire-fulfillment theories Eudaimonistic theories Objective list theories

Desire Fulfillment Theory: what’s good for you is what you want. Motivation: avoids paternalism. Pro: handles experience machine. Con: stupid desires.

Eudaimonistic Theories Theory: well-being is the fulfillment of human nature. Motivation: In theory, objective and scientific. Avoids stupid desires problem. Con: What is human nature? And is what’s good for me really what brings me reproductive success?

Objective List Theories Theory: there are things that are objectively good for me that have nothing to do with my wants or my nature. Motivation: Seems right. Can the other theories capture the importance of meaningful relationships and high achievement?

The Good Life A good life is a life that is good on EVERY dimension of what matters: good for you but also good simpliciter (i.e. moral goodness). In real life, the well-being of the self often trades off against the well-being of others, making it hard to say what a good life consists in.

Hedonism

Different Kinds of Hedonism Ethical hedonism Eudaimonistic hedonism Psychological hedonism

Eudaimonistic Hedonism According to eudaimonistic hedonism what is good for you (well-being) is pleasure and what is bad is displeasure or pain. This view is (in the West) most closely associated with the Epicureans.

Ethical Hedonism According to ethical hedonism, morally right actions are those that increase pleasure and/or decrease pain or displeasure. These views include the utilitarianism of Benthem and Mill, but also the psychological egoism of Hobbes. They often go along with eudaimonistic hedonism.

Psychological Hedonism According to psychological hedonism, happiness is the balance of pleasure vs. displeasure. More pleasure = same thing as more happiness. (Ethical hedonists are often psychological hedonists, hence: the good is the greatest happiness for greatest number.)

Arguments against Psychological Hedonism Superficial pleasures Forward vs. backward looking Happiness has no intrinsic hedonic character The order of explanation

Superficial Pleasures Superficial pleasures, for example: “eating crackers, hearing a good song, sexual intercourse, scratching an itch, solving a puzzle, playing football, and so forth” don’t seem to constitutively contribute to happiness.

Forward vs. Backward Looking States Having a pleasurable life is backward looking: it says something about your past, but not about your future. Having a happy life is predictive of (though doesn’t determine) your future. Happy today, pleasure tomorrow.

Intrinsic Hedonic Character Reading a sad book or watching a sad movie can be pleasurable. This wouldn’t be possible if sadness = displeasure.

The Order of Explanation Pleasures can explain why you are happy. Your happiness can explain why your experiences are pleasing. Neither of these explanations work if happiness = pleasure. (X doesn’t explain X.)

Interesting Conjecture Seeking happiness may be more likely to result in a balance of pleasure over pain than seeking pleasure itself.

Life-Satisfaction

Life-Satisfaction Account Life-satisfaction account: happiness is the cognitive state of being happy with (satisfied by) your life.

Motivations 1. Very common in psychological research. 2. Motivation #2: Our lives, our rules. 3. Not as reductive as pleasure. 4. Central to our motivation.

Counterexample: The Tortured Artist It seems possible to have a sad life that one is satisfied with or a happy life that one is dissatisfied with.

Transparency of Happiness You can see that someone is happy (often) by looking at and observing them. You cannot in the same way discover whether they are satisfied with their lives.

Attitude Scarcity At all times, everyone is somewhere on the happiness scale (happy, unhappy, or in between). But is there reason to think at all times people have a considered attitude toward their lives?

Norm-Based Evaluations Our life evaluations are norm- governed and these norms push us in different ways: Ambition: to be successful, we shouldn’t be content with what we have. Gratitude: we should be thankful for what we have; others aren’t so lucky.

Perspectival Influences Similarly, the perspective we take on our lives may affect our evaluation of our lives: comparing ourselves to, for example, who we want to be vs. the less fortunate. There is no “correct” perspective.

Take-Home Message Happiness is a proxy for well-being (?) Life-satisfaction does not track well being.___________________ Therefore, life-satisfaction is not a good candidate for happiness.

Happiness as an Emotional State

Emotional State Theory Happiness is not a sensation (pleasure) or a thought (life satisfaction) but an emotion. In particular, happiness is a matter of our central affective states.

Hallmarks of Central Affective States a. Productive: many consequences b. Persistent: tend to last c. Pervasive: “set the tone” of consciousness d. Profound: “get to you” Compare: pleasure, amusement, displeasure, irritation

Dimensions of Happiness Joy-sadness: includes “feeling happy” but not all-important: shallow cheeriness of shopping Exuberance-depression: passion and engagement vs. detachment Tranquility-anxiety: contentment and mindfulness vs. unease Others: engagement-boredom, fulfillment-emptiness…

Threshold for Happiness NOT: Greater balance of positive central affect over negative. NOT: One-dimensional positive affect.

Discussion