Abstract
The title, Happiness is overrated, gives the author's position away right from the start. But I was keen to read the book as the author (Raymond Belliotti, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Philosophy, State University of New York) would surely give more substantial information than The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy and Monty Python about those really big questions, which philosophers think about and non-philosophers want to know about. I was not disappointed.
Belliotti's thesis is that happiness is far from the most important human aspiration; that if happiness is to be a great good, or even a good at all, it must be joined to value to some extent. He believes we should teach our children to lead robustly meaningful lives, and if they do, they will deserve and may achieve happiness. and if they don't achieve happiness, they will nevertheless have fought the good fight, have fashioned a worthwhile biography and added value to the world.
To support his thesis he reviews the history of philosophy and the recipes offered by social scientists. In the process, he presents a host of important information. Happiness is an enduring positive state of mind. Aristotle understood happiness as human beings flourishing in their natural environment. British utilitarians argue that maximizing happiness is the foundation of morality, while Nietzsche ridiculed happiness as the refuge of the mediocre.
For Epicurus (341–270 BC) the recipe for happiness was health, self-control, independence, moderation, simplicity, cheerfulness, friendship, prudence, intellectual and aesthetic values and peace of mind. For him, the calm, tranquil, harmonious life is the happy life. This non-materialist approach has been echoed over millennia. The stoics believed the key was to ‘limit what you want’. Schopenhauer and the Buddhists advise to minimize attachments and to withdraw from this life as much as possible.
The social scientists take a more moderate view, recommending good health and love, but also a preferred job, and some success and recognition. They claim studies show that once one has a liveable salary, additional income does not translate to additional happiness. This is what mothers have been telling us for years, but we have found so hard to believe.
The social scientists point out that happiness is a function of outlook, rather than the nature of external events. Our evaluations and judgements are within our control, we can accentuate the positive (‘the enhancement factor’), and every cloud has a silver lining. As a survivor of Health Department policy seminars, I was relieved when Belliotti cautioned that you can have too much of a good thing and ‘positive thinking degenerates into absurdity’.
I was delighted to read that intensely competitive people ‘suffer more with losses than they enjoy with victories’.
It rang true that we are happiest when our most valuable goals are just beyond our grasp, close enough that we are relatively sure we will achieve them but still far enough away that renewed effort is required.
There were two points of great interest. This reader has entertained scant regard for faith, deeming it unscientific and old fashioned. However, it was chastening to read the following: Faith is not the opposite of reason, nor is it devoid of reason, nor is it distinctly religious. By ‘faith’ I mean conviction and action not fully supportable by reason. Faith is necessary because human reason is limited.
Turning to the topic on which Monty Python promised so much and delivered so little, Belliotti suggests that ‘the meaning of life’ is a nonsense question. He likens it to asking: ‘What is the meaning of Latin?’ He goes on to ask if the cosmos would be meaningful if there was no life? The answer is in the negative. ‘Only animals of more robust consciousness, those to whom a degree of freedom and creativity might be imputed, can plausibly bring meaning to the cosmos.’ Thus, it can be construed that life provides meaning.
Belliotti did not convince this reader that happiness is overrated. However, his book is informative, enjoyable and meaningful. I expect he is happy with it (he should be) and as he has achieved something of value, I trust he is well pleased.