Final Blog: Chapter 12

FINAL BLOG (Chapter 12)

(1) Question:

For a person to be truly happy, what conditions must be met? Which condition is the most important to achieve happiness? How is the relationship between ethics and happiness best described.

(2) Conceptual Clarifications:

The question of happiness deals with the concept of “Good”. As we learned from the Ruggiero text (pg 143), St. Augustine used Plato’s philosophy as the basis for Christian ethics. He believed that we lead a life of reason to achieve happiness here on earth but our faith is what leads us to salvation which gives us eternal happiness.

(3) Answer:

It seems that every one of us has our own idea of what happiness is and what it means. There are a few quotes that give insight to how some of our more famous people felt about the matter.
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose” - Helen Keller
“There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life – happiness, freedom, and peace of mind – are always attained by giving them to someone else” - Peyton Conway March
“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be” - Abraham Lincoln
I think that all of these quotes are relevant to the ethical analysis of happiness. I believe that Aristotle was on the mark with his concept of natural ethics and theological ethics. To be happy in this life we must live according to our moral principles and tend to our obligations to our family, friends, employer, and country. Even though we have established that religion cannot be the basis for our ethical analysis, it seems that all of the predominant religions of our time involve an after-life and criteria that we must meet to attain eternal happiness.

(4) Example:

Happiness seems to change with our age. A baby with a full stomach being held in its mother’s loving arms is most probably truly happy (but that does not involve much ethical behavior from the baby). Having seen many elderly people on the brink of death, it seems that their happiness is derived from the satisfaction of knowing that their loved ones are okay, their finances are in order and they are at peace with God. The best example of happiness that I can give would have to me my own. I was raised in a Christian home with traditional moral values that we find in the Bible. As an adult I feel that I am responsible for the care and well being of my family, to provide for them to the best of my ability. I feel strongly about meeting my obligations at work, to my friends and my country. I also know that I need to constantly tend to my spiritual relationship to be truly at ease. When these conditions are met, my family is taken care of, my responsibilities fulfilled and I am at peace with God, then I am happy. I don’t need all the money and things you see on television to make me happy. I can think of no happier time in my life than piling up on my bed with my wife and son and daughter and just being together, talking and laughing and sharing with each other. The relationship that I have with God is my reassurance that I will be happy in my eternal life.

(5) Word Count:

My word count for sections 2, 3 and 4 is: 556.

(6) Image:

(7) References:

Ruggiero. (2008). Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues. McGraw Hill.