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Editorial
Happy Thoughts
by Rick Lewis
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” US Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
“Happiness is a mystery like religion, and should never be rationalized.” G.K. Chesterton, Heretics
The theme of this issue, as you may have guessed by now, is happiness. Now, you may say this is foolhardy, given Chesterton’s warning that happiness should never be rationalized – should never be picked over and pulled apart and stared at from all angles under a bright light, presumably because such disrespectful treatment might make it go away. Fear not – we won’t rationalise your happiness or mine – we’ll simply examine the concept of happiness, which is a different matter.
What exactly is happiness? Is its pursuit really an ‘unalienable right’, as the Founding Fathers of the United States put it? Is it, as many assume, one of life’s most fundamental goals? Utilitarians certainly think so. The founder of Utilitarian ethics, the philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), argued that in all our moral decisions we should act so as to ensure the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. He even thought that the amounts of happiness involved in such decisions could be worked out algorithmically using what he called the Felicific Calculus. I am happy to tell you that the most famous and controversial Utilitarian philosopher of the present day, Peter Singer, has been interviewed for this issue by Matt Qvortrup.
A few prominent ethicists have disagreed with Bentham, Singer and the rest about the central importance of happiness, and even suggested that in some ways it is over-rated. “Philosophy has put happiness in the place that should have been occupied in moral philosophy by meaning,” said David Wiggins, in a British Academy Lecture back in 1976.
In any case, we can certainly say that happiness is enduringly popular and that most people seek it for themselves and for their loved ones. This being the case, we probably have a better chance of successfully pursuing happiness if, like any hunters on the trail of their prey, we know exactly what it looks like.
The articles in this issue therefore ask a range of questions both about the nature of happiness and about its value. Michael Gracey discusses philosophers’ ideas about pursuing happiness, the tendency to confuse happiness with pleasure, and the danger of what he calls ‘hedonic treadmills’, whereby we have to work harder and harder for the same rewards. Matthew Hammerton asks, which is more important: living a meaningful life or living one that goes well for you? Abdullah Rayhan finds a meeting of minds between three philosophers from very different eras: Boethius, Montaigne and Kierkegaard. All three say that relying for your happiness on your external good fortune is asking for trouble, and you’d be better off drawing on your own inner resources to find contentment. Jahnvi Borgohain brings a different perspective on our theme, by briefly surveying the varied approaches to human happiness taken by different schools of thought within Indian philosophy. Her article is a reminder that the search for happiness and fulfilment has been a central concern not only in the West but in other traditions of thought too for a very long time. Tara Daneshman says that happiness and regret are, unfortunately, inseparable. Regret will arise inevitably not only from making bad choices but also from awareness of the paths we didn’t take.
Across these fascinating articles there is a recurrent debate about whether happiness is worth pursuing directly or whether you should seek other ends, and happiness may then find you as a result. Maybe happiness isn’t an end in itself, but is an emotional sign within us that things are going well.
Sometimes to work out what something is, it is useful to contemplate its opposite. Arthur Schopenhauer is probably the best known miserabilist in the history of philosophy. Although he was once prosecuted for pushing his landlady down a flight of stairs, he was not on the whole an evil man. He thought ethics should be based upon compassion, and the compassion he felt both for animals and for his fellow humans can often be glimpsed in his writings. He was not bad, but he could be very grumpy and was a thorough pessimist. Even if he conceded occasionally that things could be worse, he probably would have added: “And they soon will be!” He even wrote a book called Studies in Pessimism. We have gathered a selection of his gloomiest quotes in this issue.
We hope you enjoy our ‘happiness issue’. Will it make you happier? Who knows. In any case, the Philosophy Now team wishes you a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year ahead. (If you read this too late for Christmas 2025, then please apply these good wishes to next Christmas instead!) And if unable to define happiness or locate it exactly, please take some comfort as I do from the words of Albert Camus: “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”
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