Why Reading Philosophy Makes You Happier
Learning more about who we are is the first step to a happier and more fulfilling life.
When you ask people what they most want in life, often their answer is that they want to be happy.
I, too, would give this response; I want to live a long and enjoyable life with pleasant experiences to remember. However, if we're going to reach this goal, we must answer some tough questions first: what does it mean to be happy? Is happiness the same for everyone? And how do we reach happiness and satisfaction?
In this post, I will share the first step to happiness by exploring my experiences with philosophy so far.
Reading Philosophy
There is a vast range of philosophy books, from ethics to epistemology (the study of knowledge) to metaphysics. Still, since I started reading philosophy, I have realized that all philosophy books can teach you something about yourself.
Philosophy explores some of the most fundamental questions in understanding the nature of the world and ourselves. For example, when we ask ourselves what is real? What is right and wrong? What is consciousness? Looking at these fundamental questions is a great place to start when trying to understand more about ourselves.
Despite only starting to read philosophy a couple of years ago, I have already learned so much about myself. Reading philosophy has allowed me to consider what is important to me, what drives me, what I should do, and if I have free will.
For example, after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation, a book on the rights of animals, I began to understand more about my relationship with animals and the importance of considering their suffering in moral decisions. This has had a physical impact on my life, and as a result, I now eat less meat.
As I read philosophy and begin to understand more about myself, I have realized that understanding who we are is crucial to happiness.
Why Is This the Case?
“To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom” — Socrates
This quote from Socrates perfectly outlines what is so important about understanding who we are. Without knowing our identity, it is challenging to know what we want out of life and live it authentically and enjoyably. Therefore, understanding who we are has to be the first step to achieving happiness. Otherwise, it is like planning a journey without knowing where the destination is.
Understanding our identity can help inform us when making decisions to bring about the most happiness. This is true for small choices like what type of music to listen to or what to eat, as well as for big decisions like what type of job to get, or whether to get married and have children.
In each case, without understanding who we are and what we want out of life, it is impossible to know which decision will bring the greatest happiness.
Knowing who we are can also stop us from living a life of pretense to fit in. With the rise of social media, we seem to spend more time hiding who we really are to fit in or seem popular, but this can be draining and unfulfilling.
Learning more about ourselves can help give us the confidence to stay true to our identity and live life the way we want and help us understand the importance of embracing people for who they are and celebrating the differences between us.
What We Can Do
Socrates teaches us that the path to happiness has to begin with understanding who we are. We need to know what we want in life to live authentically: the more we know about ourselves, the higher our chances of happiness.
The best way to improve our understanding of ourselves is to read philosophy and learn more about our minds and our connection to the world. Ethics teaches us about what we consider 'the good' to be. Metaphysics can teach us about whether we believe we have a soul. Epistemology teaches us what it is we actually know.
Once we know this, we begin to understand more about what makes us happy, which we can then explore and fulfill.
While reading philosophy, make sure to read different opinions on views and see which ones you most agree with. This will help you find writers who speak to you and help cultivate your sense of identity.
It's also important to not shy away from new ideas or be deterred if you don't like something at first. It pays to go outside of one's comfort zone as this is often the best way to find things about yourself you may have never known.
