Happiness As An Effect From Living A Moral Life
1David Kennedy
CTH 248
Essay #2
10/27/14
Happiness as an Effect, from Living a Moral Life
The journey of life is a trying one. It is filled with twists and turns that can not always be anticipated or expected. Add the pursuit of happiness, and the already daunting navigating nightmare has become even more elusive and difficult. Many have tried to capture the equation for happiness. However, Aristotle and Epicurus are two philosophers that have realized that happiness or eudaimonia (the flourishing life), is the major byproduct of a self-sufficient and morally good life. In essence, long-lasting happiness is not found directly; it is the result from living a morally just life. I begin this assessment of happiness, with the simple but critical reaction scheme that was developed by Epicurus. If happiness were to be found in any manner, then there must not be any pain present. This holds true so long as pain and pleasure are polar opposites. In Epicurus’ “Letter to Menoeceus,” he states that, “Wherever pleasure is present, for however long a time, there can be no pain or grief, or both at once.”1 In addition, the journey of a good life is based on what is morally sound, and this includes pleasures as well. The question that arises then, is why do we need a moral life necessary to have happiness emerge? Epicurus claimed that a person who is free the disturbances of living an unjust life, does not bear the successful potential for happiness as someone who is living free of unjust issues. The positive benefits of living a moral life were clearly emphasized in many of Aristotle’s writings. In order to generate happiness, the initial ingredient of a moral life creates an important reaction intermediate described by Aristotle. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle had stated, “[Happiness is complete] follows from self-efficiency… For the complete good seems to be self-sufficient.”2 Living free of a life of unjust actions and taking the path of the morally good, creates a
CTH 248
Essay #2
10/27/14
Happiness as an Effect, from Living a Moral Life
The journey of life is a trying one. It is filled with twists and turns that can not always be anticipated or expected. Add the pursuit of happiness, and the already daunting navigating nightmare has become even more elusive and difficult. Many have tried to capture the equation for happiness. However, Aristotle and Epicurus are two philosophers that have realized that happiness or eudaimonia (the flourishing life), is the major byproduct of a self-sufficient and morally good life. In essence, long-lasting happiness is not found directly; it is the result from living a morally just life. I begin this assessment of happiness, with the simple but critical reaction scheme that was developed by Epicurus. If happiness were to be found in any manner, then there must not be any pain present. This holds true so long as pain and pleasure are polar opposites. In Epicurus’ “Letter to Menoeceus,” he states that, “Wherever pleasure is present, for however long a time, there can be no pain or grief, or both at once.”1 In addition, the journey of a good life is based on what is morally sound, and this includes pleasures as well. The question that arises then, is why do we need a moral life necessary to have happiness emerge? Epicurus claimed that a person who is free the disturbances of living an unjust life, does not bear the successful potential for happiness as someone who is living free of unjust issues. The positive benefits of living a moral life were clearly emphasized in many of Aristotle’s writings. In order to generate happiness, the initial ingredient of a moral life creates an important reaction intermediate described by Aristotle. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle had stated, “[Happiness is complete] follows from self-efficiency… For the complete good seems to be self-sufficient.”2 Living free of a life of unjust actions and taking the path of the morally good, creates a