The pursuit of happiness

For the love of the pursuit of knowledge

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2ndRateMind
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The pursuit of happiness

Post #1

Post by 2ndRateMind »

So, the US Declaration of Independence considers the rights to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' to be endowed by our Creator such that they cannot be divorced from the human condition. These rights, of course, form a hierarchy: if you have no right to life, your rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness are meaningless. Similarly, if you have no right to liberty, you have no right to pursue happiness as best you see fit.

I would like to explore, however, with the help of the forum, this right to the pursuit of happiness. What makes you happy? How best do you think we should express this right to the pursuit of happiness? Does this right have limits, when our own pursuit of happiness impacts someone else's ability to pursue their own happiness?

According to Plato, Socrates thought that all human beings naturally strive after happiness, for happiness is the final end in life and everything we do we do because we think it will make us happy.

Thus, without wishing to prejudice any direction this thread may take, I will observe the following. I have found, in my life, that happiness is best achieved indirectly, as a byproduct of meaningful, purposeful, ethical activity. And it has nothing to do with wealth, once a certain subsistence level is reached. Thus, though I might be richer as a result, mugging old ladies for the contents of their purses would not make me happy, while creating (what I consider to be) well-crafted artworks does, by manifesting beauty in the world.

I also note that the right to pursue happiness does not automatically presume a right to be happy. So, what would be your prescription as to the best way to pursue happiness, and the best way to achieve it?

Best wishes, 2RM.

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bluethread
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Re: The pursuit of happiness

Post #21

Post by bluethread »

ThePainefulTruth wrote:
In the US, under the Constitution, securing the rights of individuals and the states equals or is the basis for the rule of law it enforces--and it should be the ONLY basis for any governmental rule of law.
That is the proper arguement, However, without that important detail, it sounds like a justification for tyranny. That said, I concur that is the only proprer way to apply the Comnstitution of these United States. However, that is generally not understood, or is actively opposed by many of the citizens of these United States and is definitely not a common understanding in other countries. For example, even our close ally Canada does not take that position, but is a common law constitutional monarchy.

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ThePainefulTruth
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Re: The pursuit of happiness

Post #22

Post by ThePainefulTruth »

bluethread wrote:
ThePainefulTruth wrote:
In the US, under the Constitution, securing the rights of individuals and the states equals or is the basis for the rule of law it enforces--and it should be the ONLY basis for any governmental rule of law.
That is the proper arguement, However, without that important detail, it sounds like a justification for tyranny. That said, I concur that is the only proprer way to apply the Comnstitution of these United States. However, that is generally not understood, or is actively opposed by many of the citizens of these United States and is definitely not a common understanding in other countries. For example, even our close ally Canada does not take that position, but is a common law constitutional monarchy.
The reason the Constitution is generally not understood is because it's no longer covered by most of our education systems, or worse, they're told it's outdated or a "living" document subject to interpretation as required by the social environment. The rule of law being subject to a floating standard is an obvious Petri dish for the growth of corruption.

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