This paper examines the philosophical and psychological dimensions of happiness, arguing that happiness is fundamentally subjective and achievable through relatively simple means rather than through wealth or social status. Drawing on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, Eric Weiner's cross-cultural observations in The Geography of Bliss, and Howard Cutler and the Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness, the paper explores how different individuals and cultures define and attain well-being. It also considers how media and societal constructs distort popular conceptions of happiness by equating it with money, fame, and power, while cross-national happiness data suggests that collective social conditions — particularly equality and security — play a significant role in human flourishing.
The paper demonstrates effective use of comparative analysis: it places Aristotle's ancient virtue-based conception of happiness alongside modern psychological and cross-cultural evidence, showing both continuity (money is not the ultimate good) and contrast (cultural variation in how happiness is constructed). This technique strengthens the argument by showing it holds across time periods, cultures, and disciplines.
The paper opens with a broad philosophical framing of happiness as a universal human goal, then narrows to its core thesis (happiness is subjective). It moves through historical philosophy, cross-national survey data, and individual psychological case studies before widening again to critique media's distortion of happiness. The conclusion synthesizes all strands and acknowledges limitations, calling for further study. This funnel-and-reverse-funnel structure is well-suited to an exploratory philosophical essay.
Happiness, felicità, joie, lycka, Glück, kōfuku — these are words from various languages around the globe used to connote that elusive feeling humans so deeply desire. Happiness is the purpose of life, of living, of being alive, and with it comes an extraordinary effort on the part of humanity to attain it and to resist its always too-transient nature. In the pursuit of happiness, we embark upon quests for power, glory, and money in the vain hope of finding its permanence — yet this never happens as planned, and often the only realization that comes is the eventual one: that happiness cannot be caught, and that its very elusiveness is what makes it so worth finding.
This paper examines various concepts revolving around happiness and argues that happiness is completely subjective and often achieved by very simple means. It will also examine what societal constructs do to impact one's psychological well-being and the inevitable search for happiness.
The first clarification this paper undertakes is that happiness is completely subjective. This statement is placed early on because it is demonstrably true. Given the highly subjective nature of what happiness means, and the multitude of definitions provided by philosophers, authors, and journalists across the ages, it is clear that happiness remains, in a way, undefinable — and is therefore best described as subjective.
In order to explain this further, one must first look at an early account of what happiness or pleasure can mean. In his writings, Aristotle states the following on the subject:
"One might think that all men desire pleasure because they all aim at life […] the happy life is thought to be virtuous; now a virtuous life requires exertion, and does not consist in amusement […] and any chance person — even a slave — can enjoy the bodily pleasures no less than the best man […] for happiness does not lie in such occupations, but, as we have said before, in virtuous activities. If happiness is activity in accordance with virtue, it is reasonable that it should be in accordance with the highest virtue […] Whether it be reason or something else that is this element which is thought to be our natural ruler and guide and to take thought of things noble and divine […] the activity of this in accordance with its proper virtue will be perfect happiness…"
Aristotle's first claim — that men desire happiness because they desire life — is quite true and seems to be, as noted above, the goal of life, and has been so for ages. Yet his next set of definitions, which state that happiness rests on virtue, are quite interesting: they are themselves left undefined, thereby proving that happiness is subjective, and furthermore, they do not necessarily mirror current thought about what happiness is or should be.
One concept with which Aristotle agrees, and which is still recognized today, is that goodness is central — for it appears to be a means of achieving happiness. Whereas goodness is simple, evil has many faces. Aristotle also agrees with the widely held view that money does not bring happiness. He states: "…as for the money-making life, it is something quite contrary to nature; and wealth evidently is not the good of which we are in search, for it is merely useful as a means to something else…"
With this insight, Aristotle supersedes wealth, power, and glory with the simplicity of happiness. Though some individuals may indeed seek only wealth, power, or glory, most people pursue a certain way of life in the belief that it will bring them happiness. Because many people believe in many different paths through which happiness can be achieved, the matter remains deeply subjective. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes, happiness has been variously defined across philosophical traditions, reinforcing the difficulty of arriving at a single universal account.
In recent surveys identifying the world's "happiest" countries, many wealthy nations and many social-democratic nations ranked quite high. Yet it was the lack of inequality between people — not necessarily wealth itself — that raised the happiness coefficient in these surveys. This reveals something important about human nature. Though most of us seek wealth as a means, or as a believed means, toward a more fulfilling life, it is worth asking whether this is truly the case, or whether what we are really seeking is a less competitive, more accepting society.
In The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner explains to a somewhat incredulous audience why the Swiss are very happy people. In a series of conversations over coffee, he asks friends and acquaintances whether they are happy and, if so, where they would place themselves on a scale from 1 to 10. Weiner does this to demonstrate that Switzerland, as surveys confirm, is a notably happy country — and he succeeds, finding that most of his counterparts score a 7 or above in this informal survey.
Weiner proceeds to examine in more detail what exactly makes the Swiss happy and is told that "the Swiss are happy because they go to great lengths not to provoke envy in others," that "the Swiss know instinctively that envy is the great enemy of happiness," and that "the Swiss would rather talk about their genital warts than reveal how much they earn."
In other words, happiness, for these people, revolves around a certain kind of equality and acceptance that is — paradoxically — both related and unrelated to wealth. Though the Swiss are quite prosperous, with low unemployment and a well-ordered country, they are happy because they are satisfied and do not seek, want, or wish to speak of "more," whether in terms of wealth or anything else. Weiner describes this as being content with "boredom," though others might simply call it peaceful, relaxed, and — well — happy.
Aristotle. "Nicomachean Ethics — Book X." The Internet Classics Archive (350 BCE). Print.
Aristotle. "Nicomachean Ethics — Book II." The Internet Classics Archive (350 BCE). Print.
Aristotle. "Nicomachean Ethics — The End." The Internet Classics Archive (350 BCE). Print.
Weiner, Eric. The Geography of Bliss. 12 Books. New York/Boston. Print.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, MD. The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living. Riverhead Books: New York, 1998. Print.
Ott, Jan. "Greater Happiness for a Greater Number: Some Non-Controversial Options for Governments." Journal of Happiness Studies (2010). DOI: 10.1007/s10902-010-9206-x.
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