How Does John Stuart Mill Define Happiness

"A state of well-being and contentment", this is how the dictionary defines happiness, but what truly defines your happiness? John Stuart Mill argues that "Those who are happy, have their minds fixed on some other object than happiness..."(Mill). Mill means that happiness cannot be achieved by focusing on it, but rather can be achieved by focusing on something else. So if you were to ask yourself if you were happy, then you would cease to become happy. I believe that Mill's argument is correct and that happiness can only be achieved by not focusing on the pursuit of happiness. I agree with Mill after reading the ideas of Carlyle, reading articles by McMahon, and truly experiencing happiness myself. In the article "In Pursuit of Unhappiness" Thomas Carlyle says that happiness is at an all times low and that most people are not truly happy. In the article McMahon explains the quote by Thomas Carlyle that says, "Every pitifulest whipster that walks within a skin has had his head filled with the notion that he is, shall be, or by all human and divine laws ought to

I feel that whenever I do a activity like playing a game or watching a movie, the happiness was only temporary. Even though these things made me happy the feeling eventually went away. In doing these activities, I wasn't truly happy and the moments never lasted because once I was finished, the joy was gone. However, when I do service projects for clubs or boy scouts, I feel that giving has a better feeling than receiving. By bringing happiness into other people's lives, it made me feel happy. The work I accomplished together with my friends, these moments will last for an eternity. This year, when I went to summer camp, our boy scout troop had to help clear tree stumps. After grueling hours of work and an intense group effort, we managed to saw off a piece of the stump. Finally clearing the obstacle, the feeling of accomplishment made me feel true