Factual question: Who endorsed the utilitarian Greatest
Happiness theory and coined the phrase “hedonic calculus,” which would
precisely measure and guide all moral, political, and legal choice, wherein groups
possessing the greatest capacity for happiness “should be granted precedence.” Francis
Edgeworth
Chapter five proposes the question: can happiness be
measured? Right off the bat (bonus point
for baseball metaphor), the venture seems problematic at best. Especially after wading through the murky waters
of chapter three’s “discordant definitions,” measuring something so ill-defined
seems like trying to nail Jell-O to an imaginary tree. Most class discussions, from what I can
gather, seem to center around the idea of “whatever makes you happy.”
I have a feeling we won’t turn to the last page of the last
book in this class and find a universal answer, but maybe we’ll all be better off
for exploring the possibilities.
It would be interesting to see if anyone changes his or her
mind about happiness at the end of the semester. Converted, if you will.
I’ll leave you with Al Green’s Love and Happiness. “Ain’t
nothin’ wrong with being in love with someone…yeah.”
Whenever we try to define happiness, I always think about Rev. Al saying "Happiness is when you really feel good about somebody." Fantastic song.
ReplyDeleteRev. Al is definitely layin down the luv on this one!
ReplyDeleteSupplementary questions and link follow:
ReplyDeleteFactual: Which psychologist and his colleagues carried out these two kinds of studies to measure well-being: "Experience Sampling Method" and "Day Reconstruction Method?" Answer: Daniel Kahneman
Discussion: If two people experience happiness during the same event, how are we to quantitatively or qualitatively measure that happiness? Would you consider them to be the same or markedly different? Why?
Link: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_baiCwaGDxHo/TT7r_t3-N2I/AAAAAAAAAyc/K4D8cY6NEVU/s1600/measuring+happiness.gif
http://funnypics.funnyanimalpicturescat.com/pics/15/How-You-Measure-Happiness.jpg
I thought those were pretty adorable.
Dean, I've already taken a few steps away from my conception of happiness this semester. Not only because I have to remind myself that being an angry atheist doesn't really result in any productive conversations with people who are not of a like-mind, but also because I spent a lot of time being depressed over the summer. That depression was entirely due to my own lack of effort and understanding. It's refreshing to be reminded that nobody has an objective answer.