AskPhilosophers Questions

Hi! My friend tells me that our purpose in life can't be to be happy. Either one

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 10:10:29 +0000

Read another response about Religion, Happiness

Read another response by Stephen Maitzen

Hi! My friend tells me that our purpose in life can't be to be happy. Either one of the religions has got it right, and there is a deity or deities, in which case our purpose is to serve them, or there is no God, in which case we have no purpose other than one we arbitrarily decide for ourselves to follow. Does that claim hold water? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi there.

Anonymous — Tue, 29 May 2018 18:40:10 +0000

Value

Happiness

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Hi there. I've recently become depressed over the fact, said by some philosophers, that everything we do and enjoy is merely a distraction. I really don't want to think this as I love my passions dearly. But my anxiety keeps making me believe what they said. Is it true? Or are what we enjoy in life more than just distractions? Thanks.

Is there any reason to think that happiness is of any importance?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2018 12:02:00 +0000

Happiness

Value

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Is there any reason to think that happiness is of any importance?

I have been duscussing lately with my friend about thinking. We both agree on

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 20:28:25 +0000

Philosophy

Happiness

Value

Read another response about Philosophy, Happiness, Value

Read another response by Stephen Maitzen

I have been duscussing lately with my friend about thinking. We both agree on what thinking can lead to. But, we disagree on wether or not you should think. Our theory is that thinking will often/most cases lead to unhappiness or depression because most question/problems are for the most part hard to solve. For example, what is the meaning of life? Not an easy question to answer, and the answer you do get may be sad. Therefore, I think not thinking will be good for a person so hin won't get to a stage where hin gets sad. However, my friend see this as fake happiness because you only hide sadness away instead of dealing with the problems. The problems are philosophical and not physical or physiological. So the question is, should people asks "why" questions more often and seek answers to find true happiness? Or is not thinking at all about philosophically questions just fine?

Assuming the best possible thing is happiness, (because, after all, everything a

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jul 2016 15:52:30 +0000

Happiness

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Read another response by Michael Cholbi

Assuming the best possible thing is happiness, (because, after all, everything a person does is to acquire that), if everyone was connected to an IV which injected a chemical that causes complete happiness, wouldn't that be the best possible life? And wouldn't killing them not be a crime, since the only reason murder is "wrong" is because we instinctively fear death, and these people would not have instincts, and would therefore be the equivalent of robots? Since they wouldn't know that they're about to die, they'd be happy until they'd cease to exist - and once they cease to exist, they can't be unhappy. For that matter, no one would volunteer for such a type of happiness, since such happiness would be equivalent to ceasing to exist. So why are happiness and life inherently good? Are they inherently good? Why is it bad to murder someone? Are morals at all important? And so on. In other words, happiness does not semantically equal good. Happiness is a completely different concept, which cannot be considered either good or bad. And therefore, preventing someone's happiness is not bad. Disclaimer: For no good reason whatsoever, I also enjoy happiness. (Sorry for the semantics there.) And I'm not depressed. It's just that I'm a thirteen-year-old.

What is the definition of happiness and how is it possible for human beings to

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 01:31:17 +0000

Happiness

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Read another response by Charles Taliaferro

What is the definition of happiness and how is it possible for human beings to achieve happiness? What are the limits toward an individuals happiness and how can I know when I have surpassed or come close to such limits?

Is it sensible for someone to carry out the study of philosophy at the

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 22:42:16 +0000

Philosophy

Happiness

Read another response about Philosophy, Happiness

Read another response by Charles Taliaferro

Is it sensible for someone to carry out the study of philosophy at the undergraduate level or above with the aim of self-psychological therapy(in place of, or with orthodox psychotherapy)? Can it help us organize our minds to be in order? Can it reduce neuroses and anxieties, and make us happier?

Is the fact that spraining my ankle is bad for my welfare something that exists

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:00:27 +0000

Happiness

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Is the fact that spraining my ankle is bad for my welfare something that exists independently of my feeling that spraining my ankle is bad for my welfare?

Who´s happiness is most important? My own or my family´s wich I have a

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:15:27 +0000

Ethics

Happiness

Read another response about Ethics, Happiness

Read another response by Stephen Maitzen

Who´s happiness is most important? My own or my family´s wich I have a responsible for as a mother and a wife? I´m used to, and it´s a part of my personality to always make sure that everybody around me is happy and content.But I suddenly realized that I forgotten all about me and what I want and need to be happy. I´m now facing the fact that in order to be happy and content, I need a divorce. Our marrige with two teenagers, is OK, but nothing more- we are like best friends. I suppose that my action will come as a complete surprise to everybody around us. And it will cause a lot of anger, tears and questions. And the only answer I have is- I have to do this for me. Do I really have the ethic right to hurt everybody around me in order for me to be happy.

In a class on Aristotle we have been discussing the difference between the Greek

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:43:14 +0000

Happiness

Read another response about Happiness

Read another response by Nicholas D. Smith

In a class on Aristotle we have been discussing the difference between the Greek's idea of Eudaimonia and what we today call happiness. Many of my classmates seem skeptical of more objective accounts like Aristotle's, instead defending subjective theories of happiness. Do you think this perhaps misguided view of happiness could be problematic? It seems to me that this view is embraced by a great number of my peers who, like me, come from comfortable middle class backgrounds. This "Do what you like as long as it makes you happy" attitude seems to result in both a sense of entitlement to whatever they happen to desire at the moment as well as a slavish need to act on any impulse. At the same time many of these people seem awfully depressed and unhappy for people with such privileged, comfortable lives. Do you think that this unique type of depression and a certain view of happiness are linked?