Culture Element #1 Values/Beliefs
Seminar Reflection 1, Part 3 ( The Ones That Walked Away From Omelas)
The author makes it very clear in her short story that we can not describe happiness, and I agree with that statement. She states, “Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive.”
Why we as a society can not describe happiness is because everyone has different views or descriptions of happiness - it is personal and subjective. One person could feel happiness, while another person could feel sad or disappointed doing the same thing that the first person did. Even if we do find true happiness will it stick with us forever? Do you really think that we will find joy doing that same thing over and over day after day? This would be unlikely. So not only can one person not determine what will be the basis of another’s happiness, a person can’t even know what will continuously make themselves happy long term.
Why we as a society can not describe happiness is because everyone has different views or descriptions of happiness - it is personal and subjective. One person could feel happiness, while another person could feel sad or disappointed doing the same thing that the first person did. Even if we do find true happiness will it stick with us forever? Do you really think that we will find joy doing that same thing over and over day after day? This would be unlikely. So not only can one person not determine what will be the basis of another’s happiness, a person can’t even know what will continuously make themselves happy long term.
Seminar Reflection 2, Part 3 ( Aristotle)
Aristotle's view on happiness differs from modern culture based on his ideas on the separation between pleasure and happiness, as well as his elaboration on the age necessary in order to obtain happiness.
In our modern society feelings that we would describe as happiness we would describe as pleasure. How Aristotle described happiness is that the little things that happen in your life are only mere pleasure. So you will only find true happiness when you look back on your life as a whole. Here is a quote that describes Aristotle's understanding that he wrote in the text is, “Often the lesser good promises immediate pleasure and is more tempting”.(Aristotle on Happiness 4) How we could interpret that pleasure is “tempting” in the moment but in the long run it is not worthwhile. Something that happens in modern society is that we look for pleasure and we don't look into the future until we are older. In modern society we think that happiness is the little things, and that when you look back at them when we are older it might bring us pleasure. In our class we came to the conclusion that happiness is the state of being joyful. Finding a balance in virtue and materialistic things. In the way that if you have too much of one you won't be able to find true happiness.
Furthermore Aristotle states that you cannot judge if someone has lived a happy (meaningful/fulfilled) life until the end of their life. Aristotle states in his article, “Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one's life. Hence it is a goal and not a temporary state.”(Aristotle on Happiness 6) Another way you can interpret this is that at the end of your life when you look back on everything that you have done you can find the good and the bad and then you can see if you lived a good and meaningful life. Moreover, the opposite happens now because we like to do things that give us meaning and we don't do the things that we don't think are important. So when you look at modern society you can see that we now look at what makes us happy in the moment and not looking back on what we should or could have done. But there is a fine line to that, because making the most rational decisions at any time can leave you with many regrets. Whereas living without ever making a rational decision could lead to living an unsuccessful life. Aristotle's argument that humans should always be rational is impractical because you will live your life without even knowing that you are living it. However modern society has much to learn from Aristotle as we are too rational and are not living up to our full potential.
In our modern society feelings that we would describe as happiness we would describe as pleasure. How Aristotle described happiness is that the little things that happen in your life are only mere pleasure. So you will only find true happiness when you look back on your life as a whole. Here is a quote that describes Aristotle's understanding that he wrote in the text is, “Often the lesser good promises immediate pleasure and is more tempting”.(Aristotle on Happiness 4) How we could interpret that pleasure is “tempting” in the moment but in the long run it is not worthwhile. Something that happens in modern society is that we look for pleasure and we don't look into the future until we are older. In modern society we think that happiness is the little things, and that when you look back at them when we are older it might bring us pleasure. In our class we came to the conclusion that happiness is the state of being joyful. Finding a balance in virtue and materialistic things. In the way that if you have too much of one you won't be able to find true happiness.
Furthermore Aristotle states that you cannot judge if someone has lived a happy (meaningful/fulfilled) life until the end of their life. Aristotle states in his article, “Happiness cannot be achieved until the end of one's life. Hence it is a goal and not a temporary state.”(Aristotle on Happiness 6) Another way you can interpret this is that at the end of your life when you look back on everything that you have done you can find the good and the bad and then you can see if you lived a good and meaningful life. Moreover, the opposite happens now because we like to do things that give us meaning and we don't do the things that we don't think are important. So when you look at modern society you can see that we now look at what makes us happy in the moment and not looking back on what we should or could have done. But there is a fine line to that, because making the most rational decisions at any time can leave you with many regrets. Whereas living without ever making a rational decision could lead to living an unsuccessful life. Aristotle's argument that humans should always be rational is impractical because you will live your life without even knowing that you are living it. However modern society has much to learn from Aristotle as we are too rational and are not living up to our full potential.
Seminar Reflection 3 (Being of Piece)
Even though Aristotle and Hanh show a common idea of happiness, they differ in the ways to get to that idea of happiness.
Throughout both the Aristotle and Hanh texts they have a similar idea of happiness and how to describe it. One of these similarities can be seen when both authors connect happiness with virtues and pleasure. In the passage that we read about Aristotle there is a quote, “Happiness is a final end or goal that encompasses the totality of one's life. It is not something that can be gained or lost in a few hours, like pleasurable sensations.” (Aristotle 2) In this quote Aristotle is trying to convey that happiness is gained over one's lifetime and that the little bursts of enjoyment and gratefulness are only pleasure. Furthermore the distinction between happiness and pleasure is important because pleasure is a short term feeling and happiness is a long term goal. This connects to Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing due to the similar concept that both of these authors had on their ideas of how they interpret happiness and pleasure. Now looking at Thich Nhat Hanh's perspective of these ideals here is a quote from his text, “It is often said that the Buddha's teaching is only a raft to help you cross the river, a finger pointing to the moon. Don't mistake the finger for the moon. The raft is not the shore. If we cling to the raft, if we cling to the finger, we miss everything.” (Thich Nhat Hanh, 91) how Hanh wrote it is a little different from how Aristotle writes it, but it still means the same thing. In the way that if we cling to the raft, it will get us to the shore but no further. In other words just because we have something to guide us for a short time it doesn't mean that it is a long term solution. Another way that this could be said is, just because we have something to guide us for a short time it doesn't mean that it is a long term solution. This can connect back to Aristotle almost seamlessly in how both authors say that there are things that can help guide, but should not be mistaken for a long term goal. Furthermore there are goals that you should strive for which could include some guides to get you to that final objective.
On the contrary there are many differences between these two passages. For instance one difference is their ideas to get to that final goal of happiness. When looking at Aristotle's passage there is a quote, “It is more like the ultimate value of your life as lived up to this moment, measuring how well you have lived up to your full potential as a human being.” (Aristotle, 2) Aristotle is saying that the end of your life is when you can find true happiness. By reflecting on all that you have done in your lifetime, looking at the good and the bad. Therefore when you look back, the actions that you took to get to that point in your life are the actions that can determine if you have had a happy or an unworthy life. Another thing that I want to point out is that Aristotle thought that you were the only one that could decide if your life had a meaningful life. However Hanhs thoughts on this topic were, “Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom, and compassion, and not in wealth or fame, we are determined not to take as the aim of our life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure, nor to accumulate wealth while millions are hungry and dying. ``What Hanh is saying is that happiness is not determined by the end of your life but while you are living it. It is the choices that you make when you are making them that determine your happiness. In other words if you are looking at a fork in the road which one would you take: the one that gives you wealth and no happiness or the one that gives you little but with lots of happiness? Something else that I wanted to point out was that Hanh thought happiness was determined by the people around you, not just by your own opinion. This can indicate that these two authors had the same idea but different ways of getting there. Aristotle thought that true happiness comes at the end of your life by reflecting on those times, and can only be decided by you if it was worthless or not. Whereas, Hanh thought that true happiness is being rooted with your inner self consciousness and doing what makes you feel worthy, also your happiness is determined not only by you but the people around you too.
Throughout both the Aristotle and Hanh texts they have a similar idea of happiness and how to describe it. One of these similarities can be seen when both authors connect happiness with virtues and pleasure. In the passage that we read about Aristotle there is a quote, “Happiness is a final end or goal that encompasses the totality of one's life. It is not something that can be gained or lost in a few hours, like pleasurable sensations.” (Aristotle 2) In this quote Aristotle is trying to convey that happiness is gained over one's lifetime and that the little bursts of enjoyment and gratefulness are only pleasure. Furthermore the distinction between happiness and pleasure is important because pleasure is a short term feeling and happiness is a long term goal. This connects to Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing due to the similar concept that both of these authors had on their ideas of how they interpret happiness and pleasure. Now looking at Thich Nhat Hanh's perspective of these ideals here is a quote from his text, “It is often said that the Buddha's teaching is only a raft to help you cross the river, a finger pointing to the moon. Don't mistake the finger for the moon. The raft is not the shore. If we cling to the raft, if we cling to the finger, we miss everything.” (Thich Nhat Hanh, 91) how Hanh wrote it is a little different from how Aristotle writes it, but it still means the same thing. In the way that if we cling to the raft, it will get us to the shore but no further. In other words just because we have something to guide us for a short time it doesn't mean that it is a long term solution. Another way that this could be said is, just because we have something to guide us for a short time it doesn't mean that it is a long term solution. This can connect back to Aristotle almost seamlessly in how both authors say that there are things that can help guide, but should not be mistaken for a long term goal. Furthermore there are goals that you should strive for which could include some guides to get you to that final objective.
On the contrary there are many differences between these two passages. For instance one difference is their ideas to get to that final goal of happiness. When looking at Aristotle's passage there is a quote, “It is more like the ultimate value of your life as lived up to this moment, measuring how well you have lived up to your full potential as a human being.” (Aristotle, 2) Aristotle is saying that the end of your life is when you can find true happiness. By reflecting on all that you have done in your lifetime, looking at the good and the bad. Therefore when you look back, the actions that you took to get to that point in your life are the actions that can determine if you have had a happy or an unworthy life. Another thing that I want to point out is that Aristotle thought that you were the only one that could decide if your life had a meaningful life. However Hanhs thoughts on this topic were, “Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom, and compassion, and not in wealth or fame, we are determined not to take as the aim of our life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure, nor to accumulate wealth while millions are hungry and dying. ``What Hanh is saying is that happiness is not determined by the end of your life but while you are living it. It is the choices that you make when you are making them that determine your happiness. In other words if you are looking at a fork in the road which one would you take: the one that gives you wealth and no happiness or the one that gives you little but with lots of happiness? Something else that I wanted to point out was that Hanh thought happiness was determined by the people around you, not just by your own opinion. This can indicate that these two authors had the same idea but different ways of getting there. Aristotle thought that true happiness comes at the end of your life by reflecting on those times, and can only be decided by you if it was worthless or not. Whereas, Hanh thought that true happiness is being rooted with your inner self consciousness and doing what makes you feel worthy, also your happiness is determined not only by you but the people around you too.