Relation between Morality and Happiness

Relation between Morality and Happiness

Happiness, according to the ancient Greeks, is the ultimate purpose of life. Virtuous behaviour aids in the achievement of moral greatness. Moral greatness can help you live a happier, more fulfilling life.

Thus, the ancient Greeks believed that being a moral person was necessary for happiness. A person attains happiness when he or she possesses the dispositions (i.e., tendencies) to make the appropriate choice at the appropriate moment and in the appropriate manner. This presupposes wisdom and the ability to learn from the mistakes.

Morality is concerned with an individual's personal views and life choices. Ethics is a collection of rules that help one live a moral life. We can regard ethical behaviour as a means of achieving a moral life, and thus a happy one.

Ethics can be loosely defined as a collection of principles that contribute to the improvement of one's life – for example, honesty, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, and being an honest person. The term "ethics" is frequently used to refer to a system of principles that influence one's actions and behaviours. By using such ideas in our daily lives, we should achieve happiness.

When we consider the relationship between ethics and happiness, we can agree that pursuing happiness is a worthwhile objective. Additionally, we might believe that knowledge, judgment, and wisdom are necessary components for making sound life choices and achieving satisfaction. Thus, in order to be truly happy, individuals must act morally: they must be ready to put the interests of others ahead of their own — at least occasionally.

It's also worth noting that each of us have the required courage to resist pressure to stray from the straight and narrow. Additionally, it should be mentioned that what is right and wrong is not restricted to a set of generic norms of behaviour but rather to developing the character traits (i.e. virtues) that contribute to living an exceptional life.

In life, we all face practical moral difficulties. According to Aristotle and Plato, the founding fathers of virtue ethics, we cannot determine the correct course of action based on a general principle. Rather than that, we should consider what decent and virtuous people would do, as these individuals are capable of truly comprehending a situation and determining the best course of action.

Aristotle distinguishes human happiness (which can only be attained by virtuous ways) from sensuous pleasures (which he refers to as what we now refer to as vices). Our role as human beings, he asserts, is not to seek vulgar pleasures like as sex, money, or rock and roll, but to seek qualities such as knowledge, courage, and temperance.

A good person possesses positive or virtuous character traits – such as generosity, friendship, and kindness – and will make moral judgements and choices based on these characteristics. They will relish the opportunity to forego their own comfort in the service of another.

We see acts of altruism all around us, and we all admire them. Certain individuals take enjoyment in charitable activity and acts of compassion. Others adhere to the "pay it forward" attitude. Others make personal sacrifices for the greater good of humanity. Mother Theresa is a wonderful example of self-sacrifice for the greater good. Soldiers perform this function on a daily basis while on the battlefield.

Happiness is a subjective experience. According to Aristotle, it was the essential aim of human life and a self-contained goal. According to Aristotle, a truly happy life necessitated the fulfilment of a variety of conditions, including physical and mental well-being.

Today, what the majority of individual’s desire for successful life involves their development of their abilities and potentialities, which is viewed as a universal urge or need. We aspire to fulfil our purpose in life. We spend time and effort to self-actualization, Maslow's ultimate human need and the path to happiness. Self-actualization is a state of being at one's best.



Thus we may hold that there is a close connection between being moral and being happy. But not always. Some moral people are not really happy. At the same time, to be genuinely happy, we need to be genuine, moral and sincere. We also need to recognise that genuine happiness may include also sufferings and pains. The law of life is that success and fulfilment presupposes also failures and agony. Further, genuine morality enables others (even our rivals and enemies) to be successful.


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