John asked:

I am young and nascent in my knowledge of philosophy but I have a pretty good idea of the
philosophy that I think is the "right one". (Pardon my apparent naivety and arrogance). I have a good
idea of it but I'm at a loss for resources and materials to help further my study of this topic. Here's my
basic philosophy:

The purpose of life lies in happiness. Each and every individual deserves to and should be free to
seek happiness. Government should exist to meet that ends. Therefore barriers that prevent a person
from achieving happiness (e.g. genes that handicap a person and make their life worse), should be
broken down by say, in this example, research and developments in the genetic engineering field.
And at the extreme of this philosophy things like death could be eliminated or at least exponentially
postponed so people can enjoy longer, happier lives.

Now the only book I've read that dealt with this was Charles Murray's In Pursuit of Happiness and
Good Government.Could you provide me with a bibliography or list of philosophers or works that are
related to this manner of thinking?

============

Well, a lot of people would probably agree with you that the purpose of life is happiness: although
there might be some debate about what happiness is, and how you decide whether you have
achieved it. Aristotle (who, by the way, agrees with you) nevertheless cautions us not to call anyone
(including ourselves) happy while he is still alive. The reason is that something that happens at the
end of a life, or near the end of a life, may be so catastrophically bad, that it outweighs all else that
has happened until then, and would force you to judge that overall, the life has been an unhappy one.
Aristotle reminds us that just as "one swallow does not make a summer" one happy day does not
make a happy life. So, it may be more complex than you think.

On the other hand, the great philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that (rather because of Aristotle's
point above) that happiness cannot really be the purpose of life since happiness is really not up to us
but is up to fortune; or as Kant puts it, to "stepmother nature." He thinks that what is the purpose of
life should be something that is entirely in our hands, and whether we are happy is certainly not. Kant,
nevertheless, thinks that the purpose of life does have something to do with happiness. He thinks that
the purpose of life is "to be worthy of happiness." Whether you are going to be happy or not is a
question of fortune; but it is in your hands whether you deservehappiness by being a good person,
and, for Kant, doing what you ought to do; being a moral person.

Perhaps this will make you think more about your conviction that the purpose of life is happiness,
although it may not change your mind about it.

Kenneth Stern

I'm really at a loss as to a simple answer here. The Greek ideal was termed "eudaimonia", which very
roughly translates to "happiness". You'll find it in Plato and Aristotle. If you want an Eastern take on
this, Buddhism's goal is to free oneself from the wheel of karma, the endless repeating of lives, in
order to be delivered from suffering. Moving right along, back to the West, we find the religious
philosophers, for example, Aquinas, for whom the goal was to live according to the laws of the
Christian god in order to achieve heavenly paradise — a delayed happiness. We can look at Kant, for
whom happiness was entirely intellectual, and move from there to, say, Rousseau, for whom it was
entirely emotional. And so on.

The point I'm making, of course, is that you've hit on one of the two or three of THE questions, which
have concerned people from day one. So, first, you're not alone. Second, take a deep breath and be
prepared to dive into it, if you really want to do philosophical research on this, because there are
librariesof discussion on this question.

You might think about what exactly happiness is. There are many many answers to this question. You
might think about what exactly "purpose" means. Aristotle attempts to answer this, and it goes from
there. Plato attempts to define what "government" and its purpose is. And so it goes, for the next
2000 years or so of debates.

Start with Plato, go to Aristotle (the Ethics). By then you'll have the beginning of an idea of where else
to go (read the introductions, footnotes, and look at references). Don't, DON'T, get hung up on one
person's answer to this...for at least the next decade or so.

Steven Ravett Brown