Hannah Arendt And Hannah Arendts View Of Human Happiness

Throughout life, the majority of people set some sort of goals for themselves. For some, these include things such as getting an education, a well-paying job and eventually starting a family. For others, these goals might include traveling the world and experiencing as many unique opportunities as they can. Although goals may vary from person to person, most people hope that by reaching their goals, they will obtain happiness and ultimately live a happy life. However, what constitutes as happiness will vary depending on who you ask. Likewise, depending on the person, their belief about how to attain happiness will also vary. This discrepancy about the meaning of happiness and the method of attaining happiness isn’t just present among†¦show more content†¦Similarly, if our limbs move away from something, then that something in an aversion and is therefore bad or evil. Using the same scenario, if the same person saw the same doughnuts and moved their limbs away from the doughnut, then the doughnuts were an aversion of that person and can therefore be considered bad. This very simplistic approach to explaining a psychological process falls under the category of psychological reductionism—a process of reducing psychological characteristics down to the basics. With that being said, Hobbes suggests that human happiness is simply a matter of satisfying one’s appetites. If someone can satisfy their appetite by easily obtaining the things that they desire, then they will be happy. Additionally, happiness can be attained by being able to easily avoid your aversions. This means that a person’s happiness is directly correlated with how easily they can obtain the things that they desire and how easily they can avoid their aversions. Hobbes argues that any other theory regarding human nature and human happiness can ultimately be traced back to his theory, that humans moving towards their desires and away from their aversions. Still, other philosophers have differing views about human nature and human happiness. Arendt’s view, for example, fiercely opposes Hobbes’ view. To begin, Arendt lays downShow MoreRelatedHannah Arendts The Human Condition2089 Words   |  9 PagesThe Human Condition Hannah Arendt’s book, The Human Condition, examines the â€Å"vita activa† and it’s relation to three fundamental human activities: labor, work and action. Arendt holds that these three activities â€Å"correspond to one of the basic conditions under which life on earth has been given to man† and make up politics (7). Throughout the book Arendt ultimately makes the point that our main political job is to discover other people’s opinions about political life and to then go forward and examineRead MoreAn Exposition of Kants, Arendts, and Mills Moral Philosophy2785 Words   |  12 PagesExposition of Kant’s, Arendt’s, and Mill’s Moral Philosophy Immanuel Kant adheres to Deontological ethics. His theory offers a view of morality based on the principle of good will and duty. According to him, people can perform good actions solely by good intentions without any considerations to consequences. In addition, one must follow the laws and the categorical imperative in order to act in accordance with and from duty. Several other philosophers such as Hannah Arendt discuss Kant’s moral philosophyRead MoreAn Exposition of Kant‚Äà ´s, Arendt‚Äà ´s, and Mill‚Äà ´s Moral Philosophy2808 Words   |  12 PagesExposition of Kant’s, Arendt’s, and Mill’s Moral Philosophy   Immanuel Kant adheres to Deontological ethics. His theory offers a view of morality based on the principle of good will and duty. According to him, people can perform good actions solely by good intentions without any considerations to consequences. In addition, one must follow the laws and the categorical imperative in order to act in accordance with and from duty. Several other philosophers such as Hannah Arendt discuss Kant’s moral philosophyRead MoreDurkheim’s Theory of Anomie and Marx’s Theory of Alienation Essay2757 Words   |  12 Pagessuch as trade unions, nihilism and religion also warrant exploration. Both of these theories are put forward by the authors as the central problem of modernity which arose from the move to a capitalist state in Marx’s view and the move to an industrial state in Durkheim’s view. It is worth noting that these notions are fundamentally opposed when trying to address the same issue, which brings up the central argument of this paper – Which account of modern society, anomie or alienation, is the most