Preview

Summary Of The Pursuit Of Happiness By Mark Kingwell

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
307 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of The Pursuit Of Happiness By Mark Kingwell
Summary
In Mark Kingwell’s The Pursuit of Happiness, Kingwell analyzes and discusses the idea of happiness which is common in everyday life, but creates agreements over what constitutes as an answer for what happiness really consist of. Kingwell discusses the views of well-known philosophers and writers - John Stuart Miller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Eric Hoffer - whom he quotes most often. The ideas of these writers and philosophers are that searching for happiness can only bring unhappiness and that one can truly never catch happiness but can only wait for it to find them. However, Kingwell says studies have been conducted by scientist, like David Lykken, Dr. Jermone Kagan and Edward and Carol Diener, who say that happiness with genetic and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Nt1310 Unit 1 Assignment

    • 1657 Words
    • 7 Pages

    So what are the real sources of happiness? What sources of happiness can be applicable for everyone, or at least for most people? It is interesting to look at modern specialists and essayists’ opinions – where can people find happiness today?…

    • 1657 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the article “Happiness: Enough Already” the author Sharon Begley draws up the argument that happiness may be the ultimate goal in life for many people, but too much happiness can also be as what she describes as “the end of the drive for ever-greater heights of happiness” (page number). Throughout the article Begley conveys that happiness is not always for the best, and that sometimes sadness and negativity brings out the best in a person. Begley proves her point by exploiting the negative views of happiness. Begley suggest that happiness is not instilled in a person for a long time because “negative emotion evolved for a reason” (page number). Begley then moves forward to better prove her explanation by emphasizing successful artists who…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert is one book on happiness that sticks out from the rest. It convinces us that we don't even know what makes us happy in the first place- so why worry about it. The author proves that we often do not know what really truly makes us happy now, what made us happy in the past, and even what makes us happy in the future. The book uses real life psychology experiments and tests and implements them into this book to back up his argument.…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    For centuries, society has shaped these abstract ideas of what happiness means and how one could achieve happiness in their lives. However, in order to even understand what actions could lead to one’s happiness, one must be able to understand the definition of happiness itself. Having read Charles Dicken’s book Great Expectations, happiness persists as a pleasure or sense of a meaningful and rich psychosocial integration in a person’s understanding of himself or herself.…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “If you’re not happy today, then you won’t be happy tomorrow unless you take thinks into your own hands and take action” states Lyubomirsky in her excerpt from her book The How of Happiness (Lyubomirsky 185). Dr. Lyubomirsky makes an effort to explain what are the different parts that determine human happiness and how can that happiness be improved. She makes the argument that although 50% of happiness is determined by a genetic “Set Point,” an individual can still become happier through intentional activity or action, which accounts for 40% of total happiness according Sonja Lyubomirsky. In the context of self-help happiness books and philosophical arguments, Dr. Lyubomirsky goes against the grain by making the argument that genetics does…

    • 214 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Novelist Ayn Rand, in her book Anthem, wrote, “My happiness is not the means to any end. It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose”. Although happiness may seem like a simple concept to many, sometimes we don’t recognize it but we always take different paths, face many obstacles, and spend most of our lives trying to achieve happiness. Depending on the circumstances, every person has their own definition of what it means to attain happiness, whether through wealth, success, health, love etc. Happiness is a notion that be developed by focusing on the smaller things in life which are not given a great deal of thought to, but still can heavily impact us. One of these smaller yet significant ideas in life is individualism. Today…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” (2005) by Darrin McMahon who writes for the New York Times, he claims that the reason we are unhappy is because what we are told makes us happy, actually doesn’t. He talks about how when you think about being happy, all it ever does is make you unhappy because you start thinking about why you are unhappy and also how we are told that the holidays are always jolly and that it is because we are told they are. McMahon wrote this because he wanted people to know the truth and to help better themselves. He also wrote this article to anyone who wishes to read it. My opinion is that his claims are not true.…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner and Quincy Troupe entails the life story of Christopher Gardner. Like other books that movies are made from, The Pursuit of Happyness movie was very different than the book. In the movie, Gardner starts out in his late twenties; he lives with his wife, Linda, and his son Chris Gardner Jr., who was five-years-old at the beginning of the movie. The book starts out very differently; Gardner is just three-years-old and living in a foster home (Gardner and Troupe 15-16). By the end of the book, Gardner Jr. is barely four-years-old. The major difference between the book and the movie is that Gardner experiences physical, mental, and sexual abuse.…

    • 1344 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Happiness is an immense feeling of joy, content, well-being and satisfaction when something positive happens or when there is a good outcome comes about in someone’s life. Some important things consider about happiness is that it does not need to be achieved by external factors such as wealth and status. These are temporary ways to happiness, where the happiness will not last. Instead, happiness can be found in other ways that can last longer. It can be found when building relationships with others, and seeing growth as person. Additionally, another thing to understand about happiness is that you can achieve it during times of darkness. In the documentary Happy, we watched a particular woman face adversity. This woman had become permanently…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Instead, we will look to a second definition of happiness by Miriam-Webster presenting a definition that more reasonably proposes that happiness is one’s position on life rather than a transient feeling. Miriam-Webster states that happiness is “a state of well-being and contentment.” By introducing this idea of well-being to an explanation of the inspiration of happiness, Miriam-Webster’s definition suggests that different elements, such as health and comfort, are required to create happiness. Many people over the course of history have attempted to define happiness, and some definitions are quite interesting, however, who is to say that any of the definitions are correct or incorrect? To answer the original question asked, “What is happiness?” there is no definite way to define happiness, especially not a definition that will be valid for every person. Happiness is something that is achieved, and once achieved, that person knows that something is different. It is something strived towards in our society because there are so many people facing adversity that many are unable to find their happiness due to their worries. In his book, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley introduces a type of society quite different from our own in which happiness…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pursuit of Happiness

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages

    "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness" by Jon Gertner was published in September of 2003. It is an essay that discusses the difference between how happy we believe we will be with a particular outcome or decision, and how happy we actually are with the outcome. The essay is based on experiments done by two professors: Daniel Gilbert and George Loewenstein. The experiments show that humans are never as happy as we think we will be with an outcome because affective forecasting and miswanting cause false excitement and disappointment in our search for true happiness.…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Brent Strawn, a religion professor, believes that many people in modern day see the pursuit of happiness as “‘[having] to do with ‘seeking it’ or ‘going after it’ somehow.’” However, in the 1700s, the pursuit of happiness was not seen as just practicing how to be happy, but actually obtaining it. Marcus Tullius Cicero once said, “‘What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.’” The Founding Fathers believed that everyone had the right to be truly happy not just attempting to be. Happiness was not about self-satisfaction or stupefied pleasure, but more of living life to its full potential; it was a choice. Sadly, in today’s society happiness is not a choice for all. Those in poverty, or facing discrimination in one form or another, do not always have the choice to be happy. Mankind has created such a culture that it is almost impossible to truly be one’s self without being persecuted for it. Moreover, the Founding Fathers viewed Great Britain as denying them the right to choose happiness, once again taking away their “unalienable…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Happiness Definition

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Simply, people cannot be “truly happy” if everything that makes them happy is just material possessions. There will be some individuals that will not agree on this, however, at some point, they will realize that they were lying to themselves. In accordance with Emily Esfahani in her article, “Meaning is Healthier than Happiness,” she explains how happiness without meaning equates to a void in people’s life and might even be unhealthy. To put it briefly, happiness is contributing to society, and caring about others. After all, compassion is what makes up a human being. In other words, happiness does not mean to only receive and have it all with ease. In agreement with Esfahani, this “false type of happiness” is only a sense of feeling good, not exactly as “true happiness,” and usually prolongs for a while. After this sense is over, people return to their feeling of emptiness. On the other hand, meaning means to contribute others or to society in a bigger way. Consequently, this act of kindness boost people’s self-esteem and make them even healthier. As a description, Esfahani describes a study in which people who are happy, but lack meaning in their lives, have the same gene expression as people who are going through harsh times. That is to say, the activation of a stress-related gene pattern is present in a happy, but not necessarily meaningful person while people who have meaning in their lives…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sharon Begley in “Happiness: Enough Already” argues that being extremely happy may be a goal of anybody but it also can be “the end of the drive for ever-greater heights of happiness” (455). Begley claims that “being happier is not always better” (455) and an excessive happiness may affect badly to people’s life. She points out that people who reach the highest level of happiness don’t feel motivated to move forward since they are already satisfied. The author goes on insists that happiness does not last long because “negative emotion evolved for a reason” (456). She presents many cases of famous people who experienced negative emotions to create their well-known works showing the need of sadness in every lifetime. Furthermore, people desire to gain more and more happiness causing them the fear to experience sadness. Therefore, what they once considered normal sadness is regarded as a psychiatric illness now. The author then concludes that everything would be much better if “the single-minded pursuit of happiness as an end in itself” (458).…

    • 741 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Existence of Happiness

    • 1118 Words
    • 32 Pages

    Happiness, the intangible emotion that we all desire. Is there proof that this emotion even exists? Eduardo Porter has written an essay titled “What Happiness Is”. In this essay Mr. Porter took the time to study the emotion of happiness that we all experience in life. He makes an attempt to question not only his reasons as to why he is happy, but to have the reader question their own sense of happiness as well. What is it that makes us feel joyful emotions, and how can vastly different experiences cause us to feel the same emotion that we call happiness? While searching for the proof of this feeling Eduardo Porter reflects upon his own personal experiences, professional studies and ultimately decides that his questions may never be answered. Porter states that, “most psychologists and economists who study happiness agree that what they prefer to call “subjective well-being” comprises three parts: satisfaction, meant to capture how people judge their lives measured up against their aspirations; positive feelings like joy; and the absence of negative feelings like anger.” This is an important analysis of how we form the idea of how joyful we actually are. Something in life that one person might be ashamed of could improve the level of cheerfulness for another person. For example, the thought of getting a tattoo might cause one individual to feel guilt while another individual might feel pleasure at the same thought. Because there is no definitive formula that provides a calculated experience of happiness for everyone, it is interesting to question what actions or lack thereof in our lives cause us to be cheerful or to lose some of the happiness that we have already gained. The organization of this essay was well thought out and effective. The author opens with the statement, “Happiness is a slippery concept, a bundle of meaning with no precise, stable definition.” This opening statement provokes the reader to question their own beliefs in…

    • 1118 Words
    • 32 Pages
    Good Essays