Philosophy Now Forum

Tim Delaney finds joy in Bertrand Russell’s The Conquest of Happiness.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/120/To_be_happy_one_must_first_not_be_unhappy

The happy person is someone who has affections, wide interests, pursues life with zest, is free from suffering, is a citizen of the universe, and doesn’t give a damn either about what others think of them or what others think is important.

Having affections seems pretty likely. Wide interests...I guess, I'd like to see some support for this. Some of the happiest seeming people I know have rather narrow focus and they're damn good at one thing. I mean, that's anecdotal on my part, but what backs up the jack of all trades being the route?

The person who doesn't give about what others think might be a sociopath (but at least not a narcissist.) Perhaps people sociopathic or not are happy, but what about the people around them?

When speaking of an extremely broad topic, such as "happiness", making narrow dogmatic proclamations on it's intricacies, is a mix of hubris and naïveté.

I don't want happiness. What i want is power. If that power brings me happiness, good for me. And I am quite willing to suffer if it makes me sdronger, whereas I'd not want to be happy if that made me weaker.

"Only the englishman strives for happiness" - Nietzsche, Friedrich

to be Happy, one has to hang out with 6 other dwarves...

-Imp

The happy person must also have a sense of humor.