Comparing Buddha, Zhuangzi, And Abraham Maslow

1081 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The pursuit of happiness philosophy

Philosophers have been intrigued by the natural phenomenon of happiness since the beginning of recorded time. Buddha, Socrates, Zhuangzi, and Abraham Maslow all have their own take on it. Buddha taught his followers to find happiness through the Four Noble Truths. The first truth is that life is suffering. Suffering comes from want. Want can be destroyed, and the Eightfold Path is the way to eliminate it. The Eightfold Path is cut into three steps. Step One, Wisdom, includes the right view and intention. Step Two, Ethical Conduct, includes right speech, behavior, and livelihood. Step Three, Mental Cultivation, includes right effort, conscientiousness, and concentration (www.pursuit-of-happiness.org, Buddha). According to Buddha, the way to find happiness is to eliminate dissatisfaction with one’s life. To do that, one needs to practice self-discipline and …show more content…

Socrates saw three arguments over how to find happiness: Symposium, Republic, and Euthydemus. In Euthydemus, happiness is always good because it is the goal of all that we do. It also concludes that it is only dependent on what is done with one’s response to circumstances, not the circumstances in themselves. No matter what advantages a person has in life, whether its beauty, skill in art, or wealth, they can be utilized in a way that causes that person unhappiness. On a different note, Symposium decides love and desire are the paths to happiness. However, it also states that following this path to happiness always leaves one half-satisfied. In order to gain a happy and satisfied life one must experience a realization of true beauty. Socrates thought true beauty was found in a

Show More
Related

  • The Pursuit of Happiness in Fahrenheit 451

    2866 Words  | 6 Pages

    Before we look into specifics, we’ll examine the history and development of “happiness” as a philosophy. Of course, the emotion of happiness has always existed, but it began to be seriously contemplated around 2,500 years ago by philosophers like Confucius, Buddha, Socrates and Aristotle. Shortly after Buddha taught his followers his Noble Eight Fold Path (which we will talk about later), Aristotle was teaching that happiness is “dependent on the individual” (Aristotle).

    Read More

  • Pursuit Of Happiness In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Happiness can come in many different ways for people. For me, my Pursuit of Happiness is doing what you love and living your life to your expectations. Over this unit of American Literature we have studied The Great Gatsby the characters looked to others for their happiness. In Of Mice and Men The characters did what made others happy instead of themselves and also looked to simple things for happiness. Although in Ain't I a Woman Sojourner Truth did what made her happy even if everyone was against her. If you are doing

    Read More

  • What Is Happiness In John Stuart Mill's In Pursuit Of Unhappiness

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    Happiness is the positive emotion and contentment one feels naturally. Many Psychology studies have been concluded to display what pure happiness is. In the article, “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” by Darrin M. McMahon, he indicates that happiness cannot be forced. In the article, McMahon mentions a philosopher, John Stuart Mill, who acknowledges as well, that happiness can not be forced. He says that if one focuses on something other than their own happiness, happiness will come to them naturally. By what Mill says, people should be encouraged that happiness will come to them and can not force happiness to them. Another example is Jeffrey Kluger’s article, “The Happiness of Pursuit”, he talks about how people focus on never being happy. He says,

    Read More

  • Plato's Well-Ordered Soul

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    For Plato, the only way to achieve the good life of true happiness is through a well-ordered soul, which fulfills its created purposes. When a person carries out the purposes for which they were created, they will be truly happy. In Aeschylus, we see the characters’ happiness quickly deteriorate and spiral into tragedy. Agamemnon’s idea of happiness is built on the foundation of victory in war. For Clytemnestra, a good life is one that is founded on power.

    Read More

  • Aristotle And Aristotle: The Differences Of Happiness And Human Happiness

    2347 Words  | 5 Pages

    Happiness is a goal every human pursues, yet the ways in which it is pursued differs amongst people. Some believe prosperity will bring them happiness. Others believe material, power, fame, success, or love will bring them happiness. No matter what one believes is the right way to conquer this goal, every person will take their own unique path in an attempt to find it. But what is happiness? Happiness is often viewed as a subjective state of mind in which one may say they are happy when they are on vacation with friends, spending time with their family, or having a cold beer on the weekend while basking in the sun. However, Aristotle and the Stoics define happiness much differently. In Aristotle’s

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    When an average person seeks happiness, most often they search in the wrong place: "If only I could have that I would be happy." For ages, man has been seeking happiness from outside, not within. People have the misconception that material things and materialistic goals will bring them ultimate happiness, but in truth those only bring transient happiness. True and lasting happiness can be reached from within when one realizes the ultimate truth. This ultimate truth, the main focus of transcendentalism, can be reached through self-reliance, nature, and oversoul, the main principals of the philosophy. By meditation, by communing with nature, through work and art, man could transcend his senses and attain an understanding of beauty, goodness, and truth.

    Read More

  • John Stuart Mill's 'A Crisis In My Mental History: One Stage Onward'

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    The pursuit of happiness ultimately leads to disappointment and a lack of satisfaction because people’s cravings can never be entirely fulfilled. Dalai Lama once said “When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.’” This quote shows that having high expectations of anything leads to disappointment when the expectation is not met. Also, having anticipations for what happiness is makes attained happiness irrelevant and inadequate relative to what one wanted to get

    Read More

  • Buddhism and Western Psychology

    2137 Words  | 5 Pages

    Buddhism is known for happiness. Happiness can be achieved by genuinely practicing meditation. Meditation is the central practice of Buddhism. Practicing Buddhism gives one a way of finding answers to deep questions about life and the nature of reality. “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” “What is the meaning of life?” “Why do we suffer?” and “How can I achieve lasting happiness?” As the Dalai Lama commented,

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Theory Of Happiness Essay

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    Happiness can be understood as the moral goal of life or can be unpredictable and is something we create from ourselves and by ourselves. The idea of happiness was known as something we nurture on our own and is a state of emotion. Completing our everyday goals will soon bring us happiness, which seems to be very important to most humans and is what makes life worth living, but this is not certain. This conception of Eudemonia was common in ancient Greece as it is currently today. Aristotle had what he thought was an ideal activity for all those who wanted to live life to the fullest, be happy, and have purpose.

    Read More

  • Aristotle On Happiness And Virtue Essay

    670 Words  | 2 Pages

    Aristotle once stated that, “But if happiness be the exercise of virtue, it is reasonable to suppose that it will be the exercise of the highest virtue; and that will be the virtue or excellence of the best part of us.” (481) It is through Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics that we are able to gain insight into ancient Greece’s moral and ethical thoughts. Aristotle argues his theory on what happiness and virtue are and how man should achieve them.

    Read More

  • cvb

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    Happiness is something inside each and every one of us that is brought out while doing everyday activities and noticing the positive things that we have in life. In some way, we all become happy at a certain point. Some of us, the little things make all the difference and we’re easily pleased. Others, it takes much bigger things in order to bring out the joy in life. Some researchers seem to think that we can do certain activities on a daily basis to bring more happiness and a general sense of well being. Shawn Achor seems to think that the outside world has a huge effect on our daily happiness (“The Happy Secret to Better Work”). He believes that we can do daily exercises to remind ourselves as well as our brains to focus on the good in life and not so much the negative (Achor “The Happy Secret to Better Work”) . He talks about how over the years we have often made the mistake of thinking that in order to be happy and feel good about ourselves then we must be successful in life (Achor “The Happy Secret to Better Work”). He believes that we are completely going backwards with this process (Achor “The Happy Secret to Better Work”). We’re never going to be happy from trying to succeed because the bar will always be set higher (Achor “The Happy Secret to Better Work”). Achor thinks that we should focus on the good things in life and the things we have succeeded in in order to bring happiness (“The Happy Secret to Better Work”). As you can tell, becoming happy is not a simply process when you think about. Most people seem to think that they can bring happiness to themselves if they accomplish what they have in front of them. It seems that we are wrong and doing things completely wrong in order to bring happiness. Let us go further int...

    Read More

  • Aristotle Philosophy Reflection Paper

    1798 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Aristotle, “Happiness is an exercise of the vital faculties in accordance with perfect virtue (Arête) or excellence.” In achieving happiness

    Read More

  • Success and Happiness: A Personal Reflection

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    Happiness, what is it, and why do we strive to achieve it so persistently? Happiness in some points of view is portrayed as the state that is derived from self-awareness of a benefiting action or moment taking place. What of the moments that are not beneficial? Can a person still find moments of happiness and success in discord, a little glimmer of light shining from the deep recesses of our own consciousness? Plucking it from a mere moment, achieved from money, or is it so much more, happiness is the precipice that all strive to gain to better perceive their success. As a person lives, they are in a constant struggle to be happy. For instance, even the United States Constitution makes reference to the idea that every person has the inalienable right to pursue happiness. This was the resulting outcome of the enlightenment from France, spilling out into the rest of the world from 1650 through 1800. This revolutionized the idea that every single person has the inalienable right to happiness or in different views the right to succeed. As to how one peruses or conjures their happiness that is an entirely different concept and completely up to their preferred preference, but it is something that a person needs to find on their own for true success.

    Read More

  • The Habits Of Happiness

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Buddha, “Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think.” To be happy, one must know what happiness is and then find aspects that make them feel that way. Happiness is not a brief sense of positive feelings, but a lasting sense of contentedness that can be achieved by keeping close relationships and engaging in habits that seem contradictory at first to happiness.

    Read More

  • Aristotle's Theory of the Good Life

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...that happiness is not found in amusement for it is too incongruous to end in amusement, and that our efforts and sufferings would be aimed at amusing ourselves. A flourishing life—a happy life, is one that consists of numerous requirements having been fulfilled to some degree. These include those things that preserve and maintain physical welfare such as, a certain level of material wellbeing, health, satisfaction, good familial and friendship bonds, and a comely appearance. Additionally, certain intellectual and moral needs ought to be met as well. It is a well-ordered and just state and community that preserves the freedom to have such a life. Thus, eudaimonia—happiness—for Aristotle is an inclusive notion consisting of life in accordance with intellectual and moral virtues, rational contemplation, and securing certain physical needs, such that one is flourishing.

    Read More

More about Comparing Buddha, Zhuangzi, And Abraham Maslow

Open Document