Happiness

Happiness can be an emotion that describes an array of different meanings to people from all walks of life. Happiness to some may involve winning the lottery, family gatherings, holidays, gifts, etc. John Mill’s “Greatest Happiness Principle” captures the theory that right actions must be done in proportion in order to promote happiness where as wrong actions will produce an adverse effect causing unhappiness. Too much of a good thing can be detrimental rather than healthy for any human being. According to Mill, “pleasure and freedom from pain are the only desirable ends” (Peterson, A.) All desirable things are highly sought out for since it provides satisfaction; however, these same pleasurable actions may increase the probability of inflicting pain to oneself and others. The “greatest happiness principle” can be utilized as a tool to maintaining a balanced life that will control many urges over time and can potentially reduce feelings of unhappiness if properly expressed in people or society as a whole.

People have diverse takes on interests and what interests them in living a fulfilled life. The “greatest happiness principle” is useful in determining how an individual should live since it measures a sense of equality in everything one must do to achieve an overall state of happiness. A perfect example of the “greatest happiness principle” can be the struggle that many people go through in order to lose weight. People have a certain view point on how they want to look. By devoting time and energy, one must spend an abundance of resources doing all one can to have the appearance that he/she always wanted. In 2007, the “U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market" study estimated that the size of the U.S. weight loss market was at $ 55 billion. At present day, it is now estimated to have reached over $60 billion. Happiness is hard to achieve, but sacrificing time and by proportioning all the things that make us happy is what John Mill tries to illustrate in his...