Philosophy and Happiness
The traditional objective of philosophy has been happiness – happiness of the individual, of the state as a collection of individuals, and of humanity. Like so many words to-day, "happiness" has for most of us no precise, commonly accepted meaning. Many Americans seem to identify it with what is frequently called "having fun". That is an overworked phrase, lacking precise meaning. "Having fun" refers mainly to filling one’s life with absorbing activities, preferably of a lighter nature, and usually in non-working hours, though there are some for whom work is "fun", indeed the principal "fun". The phrase evokes the idea of being engaged in something, it seldom matters what, to the point of forgetting one’s troubles…
Everyone, we are told, has his own way of having a good time. "One man’s meat is another man’s poison" is a well-worn sally that applies to any activities regarded as absorbing which advertisers seek to exploit…
Happiness had a different meaning for the great philosophers of antiquity. For them it was not a matter of individual whim. As the wisest among them saw it, [happiness consists, not in seeking pleasure for its own sake, but in gaining it from doing the right things or behaving in the right way, according to the accumulated wisdom of the race. Happiness depends upon the establishment in the individual and in society of the most perfect harmony possible between the needs of the body, the spirit and the intelligence, with reason and its more humble companion, common sense, the masters over body and spirit. Plato and Aristotle were in essential agreement over this theoretical idea of happiness. But happiness can no longer remain a theory; it must either become a partial reality or be wiped out altogether. The ideal state would be one in which the needs of all citizens for natural comfort and security from violence are satisfied in the ways most compatible with the happiness of the citizens, and with a noble life in the Platonic and Aristotelian sense.
"A search for civilization". By John U. NEF
I- GUIDED COMMENTARY (14pts)
1. What is the usual objective of philosophy according to the text? (2pts)
2. What is happiness, according to the philosophers of antiquity? (2pts)
3. Comment on the saying "One man’s meat is another man’s poison". (4pts)
4. Do you agree with the author when he says: "Happiness depends upon …spirit"? (6pts)
II- TRANSLATION (6pts)
Translate into French from "Happiness depends upon……"down to "…Aristotelian sense".
The traditional objective of philosophy has been happiness – happiness of the individual, of the state as a collection of individuals, and of humanity. Like so many words to-day, "happiness" has for most of us no precise, commonly accepted meaning. Many Americans seem to identify it with what is frequently called "having fun". That is an overworked phrase, lacking precise meaning. "Having fun" refers mainly to filling one’s life with absorbing activities, preferably of a lighter nature, and usually in non-working hours, though there are some for whom work is "fun", indeed the principal "fun". The phrase evokes the idea of being engaged in something, it seldom matters what, to the point of forgetting one’s troubles…
Everyone, we are told, has his own way of having a good time. "One man’s meat is another man’s poison" is a well-worn sally that applies to any activities regarded as absorbing which advertisers seek to exploit…
Happiness had a different meaning for the great philosophers of antiquity. For them it was not a matter of individual whim. As the wisest among them saw it, [happiness consists, not in seeking pleasure for its own sake, but in gaining it from doing the right things or behaving in the right way, according to the accumulated wisdom of the race. Happiness depends upon the establishment in the individual and in society of the most perfect harmony possible between the needs of the body, the spirit and the intelligence, with reason and its more humble companion, common sense, the masters over body and spirit. Plato and Aristotle were in essential agreement over this theoretical idea of happiness. But happiness can no longer remain a theory; it must either become a partial reality or be wiped out altogether. The ideal state would be one in which the needs of all citizens for natural comfort and security from violence are satisfied in the ways most compatible with the happiness of the citizens, and with a noble life in the Platonic and Aristotelian sense.
"A search for civilization". By John U. NEF
I- GUIDED COMMENTARY (14pts)
1. What is the usual objective of philosophy according to the text? (2pts)
2. What is happiness, according to the philosophers of antiquity? (2pts)
3. Comment on the saying "One man’s meat is another man’s poison". (4pts)
4. Do you agree with the author when he says: "Happiness depends upon …spirit"? (6pts)
II- TRANSLATION (6pts)
Translate into French from "Happiness depends upon……"down to "…Aristotelian sense".