The Quest for Happiness

The desire to attain happiness is inescapable for every human being and, as such, it has always been a central matter of discussion in the history of philosophy. Many philosophers advanced different theories and put forward specific notions of happiness. Some of these call for a positive account on it (suggesting specific objective practices and strategies in order to reach it and even quantify it), others believe it to be a psychological state of enjoyment and pleasure, others again are inclined to consider happiness as something unreachable or just as a mere avoidance of suffering. No matter how different these interpretations can be, though, all of them have in common the shared assumption that everyone wants to be happy in the first place. This work starts from this acknowledgement and it moves forward, chapter by chapter, trying to critically analyse some of the main accounts on happiness that have been developed in the history of philosophy. After having outlined these schools of thought and after having presented their strengths and the weaknesses, the final part of this dissertation is dedicated at trying to give a proper definition of what happiness is (also by pointing out what happiness is not) that takes into consideration what was discussed before. The conclusion of this work points in one direction, which will be better explained in the main body: only through an honest process of self-analysis and self-knowledge which can be conducted thanks to a philosophical attitude can we come to understand that happiness consists in staying true to our ‘objective subjectivity’, directing ourselves towards our purest desire.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Turco, Francesca

• B Athroniaeth (Cyffredinol)

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:1723