Category: Happiness

Beauty in Philosophy, Ethics, and Art: A Conversation with David Fideler

4/19/2023

In this engaging conversation, David Fideler and I delve into the rich history of ancient Greek philosophy to explore the concept of beauty as an objective quality of nature.

We discuss the ideas of Pythagoras, Plato, and the Stoics, and the ideas they held about beauty. In this highly illustrated video, we also explore the importance of harmony and proportion in nature and art, and how they were used to enhance beauty in ancient architecture and Renaissance paintings.

The conversation also touches on the connections between beauty, truth, and goodness, and the timeless wisdom of ancient philosophy that can still inspire us today.

Links: https://livingideasjournal.com/
https://therenaissanceprogram.com/the-renaissance-program-in-florence-italy/

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Freedom and Flourishing: Why We Need Both for a Good Life

5/5/2021

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Freedom enables individuals to flourish in different ways, allows for growth of opportunities, and supports personal development by enabling individuals to exercise wise and well-informed self-direction.

My guest, economist Winton Bates, argues in a new book that Western freedom was more or less a happy accident of history. Loose it, and we may not get it back again.

We discuss the future of freedom, progress, personal growth, and a lot more in his new book, Freedom, Progress, and Human Flourishing.*

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Major Announcement! My New Parenting Website is Live!

1/25/2020

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I've had something big in the works for a while that I'd like to share with you...announcing my new parenting website, Common Sense Mother!

For several years, I and various guests have written about philosophy and parenting here at Common Sense Ethics. However, not all CSE readers are parents, and (unfortunately) not all parents are are interested in philosophy. For this reason, I've wanted to launch a parenting site for a more "mainstream," audience. Common Sense Mother is that site.

Please head on over and check it out! If you like what you see, subscribe via the email opt-in there and share widely! You'll find helpful posts about creating a happy home, finding joy and motivation as a parent, overcoming stress, and managing the limited time that you do have well. My parenting philosophy is all about doing things intentionally, based on what you value most.

Of course I'll be continuing to publish new posts and videos here at Common Sense Ethics. This site is a labor of love that I've stuck with for more than 6 years! Thank you so much for your continued support!

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Is Happiness the Destination or the Byproduct of the Ride?

7/17/2018

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Today's guest post is contributed by my friend Winton Bates. Winton has a background in economics. He writes about the good society, psychology, philosophy, and other topics at his website Freedom and Flourishing:

John Stuart Mill is often quoted as an authority on the question of whether happiness can be obtained by seeking it. In Autobiography he wrote:

“Those only are happy ... who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way”.

How can that view be reconciled with Mill’s conviction “that happiness is the test of all rules of conduct, and the end of life”?

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The Most Powerful Tool For Living Your Best Life

6/20/2018

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Right now is an amazing time to be alive; not least because because we have instant access to so many helpful resources to achieve the goal of living a good life - books, blogs, videos, digital downloads - the possibilities for learning and personal growth are endless.

My friend Jonas Salzgeber recently commented on the phenomenon where we take the time to learn things that will improve our lives, yet fail to properly apply them. In my experience, a major obstacle to putting what we have learned into practice is information overload and it's accompanying disorganization (not just the force of old habit or the lack of will to change - although these are major obstacles too!) Without proper organization and memorization, what sticks in our head after reading a good book or watching an interesting video is piecemeal. It's a matter of chance whether we remember and apply it, despite our best intentions.

The ancient schools of philosophy had their own solution to this problem - handbooks. These were collections of useful and powerful phrases that the students memorized and kept close "at hand," for when they were most needed - in instances of challenge, stress, or trouble. As we'll see, the handbook is the most powerful tool in our arsenal for growth - both an organizational aid for our hectic lives, and a method for directly improving our habits and thinking.

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5 Things That You Need To Be Happy According to Cicero

2/20/2018

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What do we really need to be happy? According to Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero, not very much.

In a letter Cicero wrote while trying to arrange a visit with his new friend, fellow scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, he states: "If you have a garden in your library, we will want for nothing."[1]

Cicero and Varro were rich. Both owned various estates across Italy. He could have asked for, and expected, all of the luxuries common to his class - silk sheets, scented oils, the finest food and wine. Why did Cicero place such high importance on the garden and the library then? What is truly necessary for us to flourish in life?

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Why You Should Create Your Own Culture to Be Happier

10/23/2017

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It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the nonsense bombarding us daily. Sometimes I think that mainstream American culture leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever I get disgusted, I'm reminded of Terrance McKenna's instructions:

“Culture is not your friend. Culture is for other people’s convenience and the convenience of various institutions, churches, companies, tax collection schemes, what have you. Culture insults you. It uses and abuses you. None of us are treated well by culture...We have to create culture, don’t watch TV, don’t read magazines, don’t even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow.”

McKenna is saying that if you don't consciously build your own meaningful culture in your life, it will be determined for you by dominant personalities, media, propaganda, peers, advertising, and all kinds of other capricious influences who have no business being in your head and determining your preferences and actions.

Life is short, and progress towards virtue is often time consuming and hard won. You should be very selective about what you devote your precious and limited time to. If you want to be happier, cut out expressions of culture that sabotage your happiness and personal growth, and deliberately create your own personal culture of beauty and meaning based on your values, rather than on other peoples'.

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Wise Advice on Human Flourishing in 10 Terrific Quotes

5/1/2017

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This guest post was first published at Freedom and Flourishing by my friend Winton Bates, who curated the following wise advice based on his vast knowledge and life experience:

The quotes selected for this post are related specifically to individual flourishing or personal development. I will follow this up later with a selection of quotes relating to the social conditions that favour human flourishing.

Rather than selecting the most inspirational quotes I can think of, I have selected quotes that seem to support what I hope is a coherent set of propositions about human flourishing.

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Stop Doing This if You Want to Be Happy

2/2/2017

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Have you ever felt like you would be so much happier as soon as you fulfilled some desire, only to end up unsatisfied soon afterwards? Why is it that getting something we want doesn't always make us consistently happy over the long term? What are we meant for? Merely the experience of pleasure, or something more profound?

Hedonic adaptation is the observed psychological tendency to revert back to prior levels of happiness soon after experiencing something pleasurable. The psychologists Brickman and Campbell began studying this phenomenon scientifically in the 1970s, calling it the Hedonic Treadmill. Hedonic adaptation accounts for our tendency to overestimate how happy pleasurable experiences will make us, and the fact that we tend to maintain a relatively stable level of happiness regardless of our material circumstances. It also explains our unfortunate human habit of taking what we have for granted.

Even though the Hedonic Treadmill was scientifically observed in recent history, it turns out that Kant possessed a remarkably similar insight into human psychology, simultaneously defining hedonic adaptation and changing the course of one man's life in an impromptu late night meeting in 1789.

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Is It Fantasy That a Happy Life is All About Pleasant Experiences?

7/11/2016

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A guest post by Winton Bates of Freedom and Flourishing:

It seems to me that the view that a happy life is just about pleasant experiences is a fantasy. I’m not saying that it is not desirable to have a life full of pleasant experiences, just that a happy life involves more than that.

In his famous thought experiment, Robert Nozick asked readers to imagine an experience machine that would give them any experience they desired. They would be able to select experiences from a large library and the machine would be pre-programmed to give them those experiences while they spent the rest of their lives floating in a tank (Anarchy, State and Utopia, 1971, pp 42-44).

Would you choose to spend the rest of your life hooked up to such a machine?

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<<Previous

Beauty in Philosophy, Ethics, and Art: A Conversation with David Fideler

Freedom and Flourishing: Why We Need Both for a Good Life

Major Announcement! My New Parenting Website is Live!

Is Happiness the Destination or the Byproduct of the Ride?

The Most Powerful Tool For Living Your Best Life

5 Things That You Need To Be Happy According to Cicero

Why You Should Create Your Own Culture to Be Happier

Wise Advice on Human Flourishing in 10 Terrific Quotes

Stop Doing This if You Want to Be Happy

Is It Fantasy That a Happy Life is All About Pleasant Experiences?

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