Jean Vanier Made For Happiness
Abeera Khan
Sara VanDommelen
HZT 4U
10 November 2014
Made For Happiness For every man and woman, the most fundamental quest is to achieve happiness. In this novel Made for Happiness, Jean Vanier explores our desire for happiness by examining Aristotle and his works as well as applying philosophy to our greatest human needs and desires. The ancient greek philosopher Aristotle believes that the pursuit of each and every human being is to be happy or to know happiness. Aristotle defines happines not as a state but a vital activity proceeding from within each human being. Each of us are the masters of our own destiny and are capable of true happiness upon our wish. Jean Vanier focuses towards Aristotle’s belief that a desire for happiness …show more content…
is a natural human drive and requires a virtuous spiritual and intellectual quest. Throughout this novel are the reasons as to why the greatest aspiration of humanity is to find happiness, which includes the ethics of desire, pleasure and friendship as well as The keystone of human conduct is the yearn for happiness. "Every human being, including the sick or psychologiclly damaged person, seeks to fulfill one fundamental desire that is like the keystone to that persons behaviour" (8). Often, most people live for an ideology and are not fully capable of recognizing their own desires but Aristotle has faith in human nature and believes that if in every human being there is a desire for happiness then happiness is surely possible. Happiness lies in not in the capacity to act but from the experience of living life to its utmost fulfillment as Aristotle suggests. Happiness not as a state but a vital activity proceeding from within each and every human being. This vital activity depends on ourselves and we must trust our intuition that happiness is within us and cannot be removed. Our ability to think, make choices and analyze reality is what distinguishes us human beings from animals. By contrast, human beings are greatly anguished and are constantly looking for the keys of happiness. This can be related to a concept we have learned in class, "The Event of Being". German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) argued that it is entirely up to a person to decide for themselves to come to terms with how they are going to be. Similar to Aristotle, we are the ones to recognize our true wants and are able to pursue them to attain happiness. Each of us have a passion for pleasure.
We each seek pleasure as a means of escaping the battles within our lives. We are not able to bear such difficulties of life and use pleasure to cope. We seek the solutions of many of our problems by instant pleasure to lift us of our sadness for awhile. We are able to indulge in many types of pleasures such as bodily pleasures, relationships, music and food. "Happiness and pleasure are intrinsically linked. Pleasure has a direct effect on the quality of the activity - of the vital activity that is at the heart of happiness" (39). Apart from pleasure, friendship is also a key factor in achieving happiness. In our day to day lives we often face hardships such as work and school stress as well as personal issues. Friends are the ones to alleviate some of these pressures and uplift us. They accepts us as we are and are able to correct us when we are wrong. Having friends has many positive afffects. They boost your happiness and reduce your stress by giving you a sense of belonging and purpose, improve your self-confidence and self-worth and encourage you to be the best version of yourself. We recognize who our true friends are in a time of crisis when we are in need of another human soul, someone to comfort us and care for us. Friends share pain, joy and memories. The most joyful moments in our lives include loved ones we call our friends because they have shared the same experiences and happiness as us. "True love, that of authentic friends, is also a love that is active - a dynamic, enterprising love" (69). Love is the emotion that fills our life with delight, makes us feel connected to others and allows us to feel
compassion.
Sara VanDommelen
HZT 4U
10 November 2014
Made For Happiness For every man and woman, the most fundamental quest is to achieve happiness. In this novel Made for Happiness, Jean Vanier explores our desire for happiness by examining Aristotle and his works as well as applying philosophy to our greatest human needs and desires. The ancient greek philosopher Aristotle believes that the pursuit of each and every human being is to be happy or to know happiness. Aristotle defines happines not as a state but a vital activity proceeding from within each human being. Each of us are the masters of our own destiny and are capable of true happiness upon our wish. Jean Vanier focuses towards Aristotle’s belief that a desire for happiness …show more content…
is a natural human drive and requires a virtuous spiritual and intellectual quest. Throughout this novel are the reasons as to why the greatest aspiration of humanity is to find happiness, which includes the ethics of desire, pleasure and friendship as well as The keystone of human conduct is the yearn for happiness. "Every human being, including the sick or psychologiclly damaged person, seeks to fulfill one fundamental desire that is like the keystone to that persons behaviour" (8). Often, most people live for an ideology and are not fully capable of recognizing their own desires but Aristotle has faith in human nature and believes that if in every human being there is a desire for happiness then happiness is surely possible. Happiness lies in not in the capacity to act but from the experience of living life to its utmost fulfillment as Aristotle suggests. Happiness not as a state but a vital activity proceeding from within each and every human being. This vital activity depends on ourselves and we must trust our intuition that happiness is within us and cannot be removed. Our ability to think, make choices and analyze reality is what distinguishes us human beings from animals. By contrast, human beings are greatly anguished and are constantly looking for the keys of happiness. This can be related to a concept we have learned in class, "The Event of Being". German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) argued that it is entirely up to a person to decide for themselves to come to terms with how they are going to be. Similar to Aristotle, we are the ones to recognize our true wants and are able to pursue them to attain happiness. Each of us have a passion for pleasure.
We each seek pleasure as a means of escaping the battles within our lives. We are not able to bear such difficulties of life and use pleasure to cope. We seek the solutions of many of our problems by instant pleasure to lift us of our sadness for awhile. We are able to indulge in many types of pleasures such as bodily pleasures, relationships, music and food. "Happiness and pleasure are intrinsically linked. Pleasure has a direct effect on the quality of the activity - of the vital activity that is at the heart of happiness" (39). Apart from pleasure, friendship is also a key factor in achieving happiness. In our day to day lives we often face hardships such as work and school stress as well as personal issues. Friends are the ones to alleviate some of these pressures and uplift us. They accepts us as we are and are able to correct us when we are wrong. Having friends has many positive afffects. They boost your happiness and reduce your stress by giving you a sense of belonging and purpose, improve your self-confidence and self-worth and encourage you to be the best version of yourself. We recognize who our true friends are in a time of crisis when we are in need of another human soul, someone to comfort us and care for us. Friends share pain, joy and memories. The most joyful moments in our lives include loved ones we call our friends because they have shared the same experiences and happiness as us. "True love, that of authentic friends, is also a love that is active - a dynamic, enterprising love" (69). Love is the emotion that fills our life with delight, makes us feel connected to others and allows us to feel
compassion.