The Pursuit Of Happiness In Plato's Search For Happiness

From the moment of birth, men have already embarked on the journey of finding happiness. We always avoid suffering but goes miles away to search for happiness. Because of its fundamental role in our lives, many philosophers and theologians have tried to get their hands dirty in finding the definition and way to happiness. And one of them was Plato.

According to Plato, the soul consists of three basic parts: reason, spirit, and appetite. Reason is the rational part of the soul responsible for the awareness of a goal. Spirit and appetite are then the irrational parts of the soul. Spirit is in control of the activities that drive toward action and appetites are the bodily desires. Among the three parts, reason is given the greatest value and highest regard because it is the only one that is familiar with the goal. For Plato, an ordered soul is then ruled by reason while keeping the spirit and appetite under control .

In Plato’s theory of the soul, Plato claims that to be happy one must be just, have an ordered soul and ruled by reason . For Plato, the happy man cannot be singled out without dealing with his ordered and harmonious soul . For a man to be happy, all three parts of the soul must be in balance and

There is really nothing wrong with setting goals. In fact to have a goal drives people to work harder. Setting destinations only becomes an issue when an individual becomes too absorbed in his own bubble. When the mentality becomes insensitive of others, of the good, and ordered soul, true happiness becomes difficult. It is important to remember that true happiness is found not in the end of the marathon but in running the marathon. The destination is just either a yes or no, win or lose, success or fail but the journey towards the destination tells a story. It is our journey toward the end that builds our character, teaches us about life, shapes our lives and reflects our