Random Thoughts on Happiness & Meaning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47494/mesb.v11i.498Keywords:
happiness, meaning, philosophy, lifeAbstract
Happiness has been the fixation of all men of all ages. Every living soul wants to be happy. Humans generally want to die happy. They want to be happy even after they are dead. All human endeavors are geared towards ultimately achieving happiness. Happiness appears to be the chief pursuit of man. But happiness in its fullness seems to elude the total grasp of man. It seems to be a mirage most men embrace only in fleeting moments. Perhaps the situation is exacerbated by men’s inability to define happiness in universally common terms. Many a man has often set out in pursuit what he deems to be happiness but disappointedly ended up in sorrow. Yet, perplexedly many a man has beamed in ethereal happiness in the face of what men deem to be abject misery. This perplexity endures because, man as a value making animal ties everything to meaning. Man can truly be happy only when the pursuit of happiness is meaningful to him. Happiness is tied to the very meaning of human existence. It can only be defined in the context of meaning. What is happiness? This work sets out to find out in the best of philosophic traditions, using philosophical analyses and speculations as the bedrocks of its methodology
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