Are you happy to be pleased or are you pleased to be happy?
In this short essay I will only touch on what comes to mind on the subject of happiness and pleasure for I do NOT purport to have the expertise to offer a comprehensive analysis on these feelings an/or emotions.
Most arguments about the difference between happiness and pleasure suggest that happiness is more enduring than pleasure, the latter being perceived as a transient feeling (or state of mind) which lasts only for a short duration. In other words, happiness and pleasure may be described as finite feelings (or states of mind) that have a duration associated with each, the former being the one that is expected to last longer than the latter.
The common examples of comparing the two feelings (or states of mind) include the following:
- Pleasure from eating something you like only lasts for the duration of consuming that pleasing bite or meal.
- For a finite duration, physical possessions can be sources of pleasure but not happiness
- Happiness emanating from a relationship whether it be marriage, friendship or a combination thereof may last for a lifetime or, for what most would agree, longer than the foregoing examples about pleasure.
With the above in mind, let me address the question that I posed at the outset of this essay, namely: Are you happy to be pleased or are you pleased to be happy?
Staying true to my note about keeping this simple and, after considerable deliberation about the sources and nature of each of the two emotions, my answer to the question is: neither! Instead, I would say that I am happy to have you as my friends and pleased that you took the time to read this and some of my other thoughts!
Hani Badawi
October 18, 2017
In this short essay I will only touch on what comes to mind on the subject of happiness and pleasure for I do NOT purport to have the expertise to offer a comprehensive analysis on these feelings an/or emotions.
Most arguments about the difference between happiness and pleasure suggest that happiness is more enduring than pleasure, the latter being perceived as a transient feeling (or state of mind) which lasts only for a short duration. In other words, happiness and pleasure may be described as finite feelings (or states of mind) that have a duration associated with each, the former being the one that is expected to last longer than the latter.
The common examples of comparing the two feelings (or states of mind) include the following:
- Pleasure from eating something you like only lasts for the duration of consuming that pleasing bite or meal.
- For a finite duration, physical possessions can be sources of pleasure but not happiness
- Happiness emanating from a relationship whether it be marriage, friendship or a combination thereof may last for a lifetime or, for what most would agree, longer than the foregoing examples about pleasure.
With the above in mind, let me address the question that I posed at the outset of this essay, namely: Are you happy to be pleased or are you pleased to be happy?
Staying true to my note about keeping this simple and, after considerable deliberation about the sources and nature of each of the two emotions, my answer to the question is: neither! Instead, I would say that I am happy to have you as my friends and pleased that you took the time to read this and some of my other thoughts!
Hani Badawi
October 18, 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment