The Myth of Happiness: What is the Eastern and Western Philosophy of Happiness
Exploring the Epicureanism, Stoicism, Pessimism, and Spirituality for Understanding the Meaning of Happiness
The pursuit of happiness is the basic mantra of western culture. However, it is an eluding concept which has baffled thinkers for centuries. As we advance into a highly atomized post-AI world, happiness is becoming ever more a topic of discussion. This can be observed from the amount of digital content dedicated to this topic these days. It seems as if people are eagerly searching for the promised idealistic notion of happiness. We see in this article, what various schools of ancient philosophy have to say about the concept and what we can learn from all these explanations.
The Epicurean Viewpoint
The term Hedonism has become synonymous with utilitarianism, — the belief that the goal of human life is to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. However, original Hedonists (e.g., the Epicureans) were not utilitarians. They didn’t promote maximization of pleasure and minimization of pain. Rather they tried to seek a state of wellbeing which is devoid of suffering and mental disquiet and filled with unconditional joy. Such a joy which is not dependent on external stimuli but had an internal locus…
