OVERVIEW ASSIGNMENT

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HAPPINESS

PT 2.

Aristotle (b. 384 BCE, tutor of Alexander the Great) on Happiness . . .

The conduct of living Quality of life: how you live it. What is the highest good? In his Nicomachean Ethics

4. Aristotelianism and “The Good Life”

Aristotle reviews forms of happiness: 1.  [sensory pleasure], 2.  the political, and thirdly 3.  the contemplative life. To judge from the lives that men lead, most men . . .

seem (not without some ground) to identify the good, or happiness, with pleasure; which is the reason why they love the life of enjoyment.

Now the mass of mankind are evidently quite slavish in their tastes, preferring a life suitable to beasts, but . . . many of those in high places share the tastes of Sardanapalus.

Aristotle on Happiness, cont.

2. . . . People of superior refinement and of active disposition identify happiness with honor; for this is, roughly speaking, the end of the political life. But it seems too superficial . . ., since it depends on those who bestow honor rather than on him who receives it, but the good we divine to be is something proper to a man and not easily taken from him.

HAPPINESS

PART 2 PPT

Groundwork: For Aristotle everything in the world has its own unique function. The function of a knife is simply to cut, the function of a horse would be to run swiftly and to carry a rider, and so on. Various parts of the body also have their own function: that of the eye, for example, is to see.

Aristotle’s argument

à But what is the function of a human being?

Aristotle: . . . we state the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity or actions of the soul implying a rational principle [reason], and the function of a good man is to be the good and noble performance of these [rational actions], and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate excellence: if this is the case, human good turns out to be: an activity of soul in accordance with virtue (arête) excellence

The Good Life: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

For the ancients, virtue = Wisdom. Virtue in General for the Greeks = a mean between two extremes -- an excess and a defect -- with respect to a particular action or emotion. Aristotle valued the Individual mean over the mathematical mean (average).

4 2 3 5 1

What is the best kind of friendship? __________________________ __________________________

A friend is one who: ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

A big part of happiness is Friendship

Aristotle in a modern context Anne Frank 1929-1945. “I suddenly realized that we have

had a great, great many compensations. I mean inward compensations.”

Viktor Frankl 1905 - 1997. Author of Man’s Search for Meaning, �� Developer of existential �� psychology. Holocaust survivor.

“The size of human suffering is absolutely relative . . .”

Edward Hopper. Nighthawks. 1942. Portrayed longing , loneliness

Some institutions and individuals who have made efforts to increase

the happiness �� of others . . . .

Federal Government during 1930s: WPA: Works Projects Administration AMERICA - LAND OF ART PATRONAGE

Art patronage, which has developed since 1933, has made over the artistic landscape of America. The Crash of 1929 worsened the fate of American artists, who already had difficulties making themselves known in a country where work comes before art and leisure-time activities. Painters have long been part of the lot of poor people. They are all victims of the Crash, lengthening the waiting lines in soup kitchens. The largest part of the help, by far, comes from the federal government. It was President Franklin D. Roosevelt who decided last year to put an end to artistic poverty by introducing a government program of aid to the most deprived artists. This action program, attached to the Works Project Administration (WPA), includes the distribution of regularly scheduled subsidies and purchase orders for artists.

Written by Holger Cahill, head of the WPA, 1936.

WPA example: Coit Tower murals, 1933. San Francisco

http://www.coittower.org/artists/artists_intro.html

Martin Luther King, 1929-1968. (American minister, civil rights activist)

M.L. King Memorial, Yerba Buena Gardens, SF

“....when we let it ring from every village, and every hamlet, from every state and every city , we will be able to speed up the day when all of God’s children...will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, ‘free at last! free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!’”

5. Eastern Philosophies. Mohandas Gandhi (Indian Hindu asceRc and

naRonalist leader, 1869-‐1948) Age 21. Studied, became lawyer in England. moksha

Mahatma

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

Gandhi excerpt w additions

Non- violent resistance

The Four Noble Truths 1. Life is full of "suffering.” (non-satisfactoriness) 2. This suffering is caused by our desires. 3. There is a cure. 4. The cure is the Eightfold Path.

• Hinayana “little ferry boat” • Mahayana “big ferryboat”

Dalai Lama, leader Tibetan Buddhism.

Bliss Nirvana moksha

The Good Life Buddhist style

17 Meditation. Digital Mandala by Caroline Hofstede.

18 Death of Buddha.

Aim for Buddhist: Release from suffering. Involves Loss of self.

From cancer survivor to Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong's story of recovery and triumph has already brought cycling to a level it never reached before, especially in the United States.

With exposure comes awareness. Perhaps the ultimate winner of Armstrong's miraculous story will be the cancer foundation he established following his diagnosis in October 1996.

Sloganwear:

www.uspsprocycling.com/team/ bios/armstrong.htm

“WINNING” AS HAPPINESS

Tensions between happinesses

According to contemporary philosopher Jennifer Hecht, in seeking happiness we are faced with a tension between: ”a good day” happiness (mundane satisfactions), euphoria (an intense feeling of well-being--

can't have all the time), and "a happy life" (takes work, some sacrifice-- an accomplished life).

A philosopher’s advice . . .�� Toward a practical solution . . . .

List the kinds of things one personally desires under each of these headings--

1.  what's in a satisfying day for you, 2.  what brings you euphoria, 3.  what kind of life do you ultimately want to be living. An honest list, and an honest analysis of it, might help a

person see where the tensions are in one's own life.

Jennifer Hecht, The Happiness Myth: Why We Think What’s Right is Wrong.

A Contemporary Philosopher’s Conclusion . . .

Rely upon •  your own experiences of happiness, while •  acknowledging mediation by:

–  cultural values and ideals, as well as by the –  self-help industry with its ever-changing and contradicting

messages, to try to convince us that we aren't quite there yet.

For it is not continued drinking and revels, or the enjoyment of female society, or feasts of fish and other such things, as a costly table supplies, that make life pleasant, but sober contemplation, which examines into the reasons for all choice and avoidance, and which puts to flight the vain opinions from which the greater part of the confusion arises which troubles the soul....

PRACTICE iden<fying theories of happiness . . . . Which theories of happiness does this passage refer to?

Thomas Cole. Dream of Arcadia. 1838.

What does this painRng and its Rtle say about happiness?

Explain how this painting of people in an all-night diner could be interpreted by a Hedonist, Stoic or an Epicurean. �� Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper, 1942.

Happiness:�� Stories, Movies, Music

For Practice:

What kind of happiness theory are they bearing out?

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, started, little by little, to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!' -in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, transcribed by Paul Reps

How might this story relate to “Euphoria”?

Cli]anger

Various Insights into the “Cliffhanger” story: 1. I understand now. 'Live life to the fullest!'" "'Eat, drink, and be merry; for tomorrow we die!' 2. "The man knew that he was about to die, and that there was nothing he could do about it. In

his last chance to enjoy life, he did not waste his last moments in fear and frustration. He took what little pleasure he could and made the best of it.”

3. “Why didn't the man throw the strawberry at the mice?" 4. The strawberry is the present. Forget the past, don’t worry the future, concentrate in the

present moment. 5. The tigers are the fear, stress and lack of focus in our lives that interfere with our desire to

achieve peace, and that is represented by the field. We are forced by our fear to grasp the vine that is reality. The mice are the thoughts of good and evil and the deeper nature of man that we try to ignore but constantly gnaw at our consciousness and effect our grip on reality.

6. "Everything tastes sweeter when you know it is your last. Is this what it takes to appreciate what our reality has to offer us?"

7. "What a story. It points out that the essence of zen must be to live until you are dead!" 8. ”There are Two possibilities: (1)  even in the midst of tremendous adversity, a truly enlightened person knows how to Be

Here Now; (2)  or (2) this guy was in a serious state of denial. These two possibilities seem to be polar

opposites leading to the same result: BE IN THE MOMENT, BE IN THE BODY, HERE, NOW.”

“The Great Gatsby” What kind did Gatsby achieve? What kind(s) Did he lack?

“Cabaret” Sally Bowles 1930s Berlin, Germany

“Money, Money” musical: Cabaret Money makes the world go around, the world go

around, the world go around, Money makes the world go around, it makes the

world go round. A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound, a buck or a

pound, a buck or a pound, Is all that makes the world go around,��

that clinking clanking sound, Can make the world go round. If you happen to be rich, and you feel like a night’s

entertainment, You can pay for a gay escapade. If you happen to be rich, and alone and you need a

companion, You can ring ting-a-ling for the maid. If you happen to be rich and you find you are left by

your lover, Tho you moan and you groan quite a lot, You can take it on the chin,

call a cab and begin to recover on your fourteen carat yacht.

Money makes the world go around, of that we both are sure. (Raspberry)

On being poor. When you haven’t any coal in the stove and you freeze in the winter

And you curse to the wind at your fate. When you haven’t any shoes on your feet and your

coat’s thin as paper And you look thirty pounds underweight, When you go to get a word of advice from the fat

little pastor, he will tell you to love evermore. But when hunger comes to rap, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, at

the window, See how love flies out the door. For money makes the world go around, the world go

around, the world go around. the clinking, clanking sound of Money, money, money, money, Get a little, get a little,

A mark, a yen, a buck or a pound, That clinking, clanking clunking sound��

is all that makes the world go round,�� It makes the world go round.

Paul Gauguin Be in Love and You Will Be Happy. 1889

Ambiguities of Happiness. Love and marriage, Love and marriage, Go together like a Horse and carriage . . .

Shakespeare’s Characters •  There are three familiar works that

demonstrate hedonist tendencies •  Romeo and Juliet

– Aesthetic/hedonistic pleasure turns to love •  Macbeth

– Powerful greed •  Antony and Cleopatra

– Aesthetic/hedonistic pleasure and greed

Romeo Sees Juliet Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!

It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night.

As a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear

Beauty too rich for use, for earth, too dear.

So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows

As yonder lady o’er her fellows shows.

The measure done, I’ll watch her place

Of stand, and touching hers, make blessed

My rude hand. Did my heart love till now?

Forswear it, sight, for I ne’re saw true

Beauty till this night.

Happiness in life - Relativity - a three-way story An American, a Frenchman, and a Vietnamese refugee had a discussion about the happiness of life. "To me, happiness is returning home on a Monday evening, having a wonderful dinner prepared by my wife, then slouching on the sofa watching Monday Night Football," the American said. "You Americans are not romantic at all", the Frenchman injected, "Spending a lovely evening with my lover, walking along the Seine river, and having a romantic dinner on top of the Eiffel tower. That is happiness of life.”

Happiness in Life story, cont. "You call those things happiness?", the Vietnamese said, "then you two still don't understand life at all. Imagine this: You are sleeping soundly at night in Saigon. Then suddenly you hear loud knocks on your front door. You hear loud voices, 'Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, open the door!'. Awakened with fear, you rush out and open the door. Right there, you see two secret policemen ready to handcuff you. One man says to you, 'Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, you are under arrest for your anti-revolutionary activities. You are being sent to the re- educational camp for an undetermined period of time.” Sweating profusely and shaking uncontrollably, you reply to them, 'Comrades, Mr. Nguyen Van Binh lives next door.' That moment is the ultimate happiness of life, my friends."

Nhan Huu Tran

(From the "Rest" of RHF) |RHF Joke Archives http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/88q4/15570.html>

“Tomorrow Never Knows” �� The Beatles

Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream, It is not dying, it is not dying Lay down all thought, surrender to the void, Is it shining? Is it shining? That you may see the meaning of within It is being, it is being Love is all and love is everyone Is it knowing? Is it knowing? That ignorance and hate may mourn the dead It is believing, it is believing But listen to the colour of your dreams Is it not living, is it not living Or play the game "Existence" to the end Of the beginning, of the beginning

“Getting Better” The Beatles (Lennon/McCartney) It’s getting better all the time I used to get mad at my school (No I can’t complain)

The teachers who taught me weren’t cool (No I can’t

It’s getting better all the time I used to get mad at my school (No I

can’t complain) The teachers who taught me weren’t

cool (No I can’t complain) You’re holding me down (Oh), turning

me round (Oh) Filling me up with your rules (Foolish

rules) I’ve got to admit it’s getting better

I used to be cruel to my woman I beat her and kept her apart from the

things that she loved Man I was mean but I’m changing

my scene And I’m doing the best that I can

(Ooh) I admit it’s getting better (Better) A little better all the time (It can’t get

more worse) Yes I admit it’s getting better (Better) It’s getting better since you’ve been

mine Getting so much better all the time It’s getting better all the time

38 audio of song

“Witchi-Tai-To”(Water Spirit) Brewer & Shipley

Witchi Tai To kee-mo rah�� Whoa ron-nee ka�� Whoa ron-nee ka��

Hey-ney hey-ney no wah��

Water spirit spring is �� Springin‘ round my head��

Makes me feel glad�� That I’m not dead

video of song

Cream: “I’m so Glad”

•  I’m so glad, I’m so glad. I’m glad, I’m glad, I’m glad. I’m so glad, I’m so glad. I’m glad, I’m glad, I’m glad.

•  I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do.

•  I’m tired of weeping, I’m tired of moaning, I’m tired of crying for you.

Cyndi Lauper-�� “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”

I come home in the morning light, My mother says “When you gonna live your life right?” Oh,mother,dear, We’re not the fortunate ones, And girls, They wanna have fu-un. Oh, girls, Just wanna have fun. The phone rings in the middle of the night, My father yells “What you gonna do with your life?” Oh, daddy, dear, You know you’re still number one, But girls,, They wanna have fu-un, Oh, girls, just wanna have That’s all they really want.....Some fun....

41 YouTube audio and lyrics

Dion-The Wanderer Oh well I’m the type of guy who will never settle

down Where pretty girls are well, you know that I’m

around I kiss ‘em and I love’ em ‘cause to me they’re all

the same I hug ‘em and I squeeze ‘em they don’t even know

my name They call me the wanderer yeah the wanderer I roam around around around... Oh well there’s Flo on my left and there’s Mary on

my right And Janie is the girl with that I’ll be with tonight And when she asks me which one I love the best��

��

I tear open my shirt I got Rosie on my chest ‘Cause I’m the wanderer yeah the wanderer Oh well I roam from town to town��

I go through life without a care ‘Til I’m as happy as a clown��

With my two fists of iron and I’m going nowhere I’m the type of guy that likes to roam around I’m never in one place I roam from town to town And when I find myself a-fallin‘ for some girl I hop right into that car of mine . . . ��

Yeah I’m the wanderer yeah the wanderer I roam around, around . .

Saul Steinberg, Prosperity. 1991. Colored pencil, wax crayon & graphite on paper.

Prosperity In color and black and white…