Where does happiness come from? I desire to be happy and find myself trying to attain happiness. I feel like being happy is a part of living. No one wants to live an unhappy life, but how do we become happy ? Everyone has their own ideas of happiness according to their lives but could everyone's answer to happiness be the same? According to the existentialist point of view "happiness, then, is to get ones value from within oneself." Could our happiness really come from within and not from the external world? I think what it's saying is in order to be happy we first have to be happy with ourselves. Happiness comes from within. We have the power to determine our happiness.
So all this time if the key to being happy comes from within, have I really been looking in the wrong places (in people, material possessions...etc)? when all this time my happiness was always in my control. My happiness lies within me - "one must lose all hope of external value before seeking value within." So in order to attain my happiness from within I must separate myself in a sense from the external world. I have to forget about finding happiness in other people and all the material possessions which bring me joy, to trade it all in for "true happiness" which comes from me. If this existentialist point of view is true, then, the outside world technically doesn't matter because it doesn't contain the answer to my happiness. I agree and somewhat disagree with this point of view because I find that even though being happy with yourself and finding "value" in yourself is important , it's not wrong to find happiness or get happiness from other people. I feel like our external world plays some role in our ultimate happiness.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
HW 3 - blog comments 2
Jessica,
I liked how you referred us as being like robots when we try to please others instead of embracing our individuality and freedom. It seems like we basically have the same thoughts about what the second part of Banach's lecture states. A question you asked that stood out to be and made me consider my own life was "if we cant be ourselves who can we be? This question makes me wonder....we can only be who we want to be. I also agree that we shouldn't change just to satisfy others. We should want change because that's what we desire, if that be the case. To make your post longer maybe you could have elaborated more on your thoughts and you could have added quotes from the lecture to support your points.
Nice thoughts.
Michelle,
I noticed that you took what Banach said in his lecture and stated your opinion on it. It was easy to read and get what you were saying.While reading your post I realized that we we shared the same ideas about our absolute freedom and how we sometimes don't exercise it because we either come up with excuses or let other people get in the way.
I think that maybe to make your points a little stronger you could have added a personal experience.In the end I liked how you pointed out that everyone's thoughts are going to be different.
Keep it up!
I liked how you referred us as being like robots when we try to please others instead of embracing our individuality and freedom. It seems like we basically have the same thoughts about what the second part of Banach's lecture states. A question you asked that stood out to be and made me consider my own life was "if we cant be ourselves who can we be? This question makes me wonder....we can only be who we want to be. I also agree that we shouldn't change just to satisfy others. We should want change because that's what we desire, if that be the case. To make your post longer maybe you could have elaborated more on your thoughts and you could have added quotes from the lecture to support your points.
Nice thoughts.
Michelle,
I noticed that you took what Banach said in his lecture and stated your opinion on it. It was easy to read and get what you were saying.While reading your post I realized that we we shared the same ideas about our absolute freedom and how we sometimes don't exercise it because we either come up with excuses or let other people get in the way.
I think that maybe to make your points a little stronger you could have added a personal experience.In the end I liked how you pointed out that everyone's thoughts are going to be different.
Keep it up!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
HW 3
It's like we are our own TV series and every episode (everyday) we play different characters. We are given a script by others to act out who they want us to be. But the question we should be asking ourselves is who do I want to be?
It can be confusing. It's like we have split personalities sometimes “we all to some extent tend to make ourselves into the image other people have of us”. As I see it we are too focused on how we are to act and be around other people, never really considering who we are. How do we show or share the “real” us with people without worrying about their expectations? Other people only see us differently than how we see ourselves because that’s what we allow. It’s like they see us as one person and we see ourselves as a completely different person- “all of this is self -deception”. We are subjecting our freedom. Our freedom from others and their expectations which interferes with what we want.
How can we avoid others from influencing our freedom? When we allow them to influence our thoughts and how we act, “we see our value in terms of the acceptance we get from other people”. We are more than what we think. I think we need to stop making excuses to avoid our freedom to choose for ourselves by creating our own characters (who we want to be) and write our own script.
I agree with Banach “I am free to do whatever I choose”. I can’t avoid my freedom; I just tend to make excuses for it. It’s like I am afraid to make my own choices and decisions and as a result allow others to influence them or make them for me. There is an imbalance between my outside self and my inside self – pleasing others vs. myself. Going back to the article where Banach refers to us as flipping who we are to be accepted. Why do we try to be someone we are not? When we can choose not to and just be ourselves. The freedom to be and create who we want to be and how we want to be seen by people and not the image they see of us. Isn’t that what “absolute freedom” and “individuality” is about?
We are in control of our own lives. We are not puppets for others to control. We should cut our strings because our freedom is inevitable. So we are not trapped into being or portraying someone we are not.
It can be confusing. It's like we have split personalities sometimes “we all to some extent tend to make ourselves into the image other people have of us”. As I see it we are too focused on how we are to act and be around other people, never really considering who we are. How do we show or share the “real” us with people without worrying about their expectations? Other people only see us differently than how we see ourselves because that’s what we allow. It’s like they see us as one person and we see ourselves as a completely different person- “all of this is self -deception”. We are subjecting our freedom. Our freedom from others and their expectations which interferes with what we want.
How can we avoid others from influencing our freedom? When we allow them to influence our thoughts and how we act, “we see our value in terms of the acceptance we get from other people”. We are more than what we think. I think we need to stop making excuses to avoid our freedom to choose for ourselves by creating our own characters (who we want to be) and write our own script.
I agree with Banach “I am free to do whatever I choose”. I can’t avoid my freedom; I just tend to make excuses for it. It’s like I am afraid to make my own choices and decisions and as a result allow others to influence them or make them for me. There is an imbalance between my outside self and my inside self – pleasing others vs. myself. Going back to the article where Banach refers to us as flipping who we are to be accepted. Why do we try to be someone we are not? When we can choose not to and just be ourselves. The freedom to be and create who we want to be and how we want to be seen by people and not the image they see of us. Isn’t that what “absolute freedom” and “individuality” is about?
We are in control of our own lives. We are not puppets for others to control. We should cut our strings because our freedom is inevitable. So we are not trapped into being or portraying someone we are not.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
HW 2-Blog Comments 1
Jessica,
I liked how you used quotes from the lecture so I got a better understanding of what parts you were talking about. Basically you made me feel like you agreed with what David Banach was saying about us being the only one's who can truly feel what we are feeling and in the moments we feel them.
What really stuck out to me was when you said "People only see our appearance and we could easily lie to them saying that we are okay but really not." I can connect this to us putting on masks in our everyday lives so that we don't have to show people who we really are or what we are feeling.
You also helped me develop my own thoughts on the quotes you mentioned a little more. I agree with what you said about people trying to relate to our feelings but that our feelings could have been a "different" type of feeling from theirs. I think that we understand ourselves better than others do. We can't understand other people's thoughts or feelings as best they can.
So my question is do you agree with the quote in the lecture "each of us is alone in this world"?
Michelle,
I liked how you agreed with what Banach had to say about "absolute individuals" in his lecture and questioned it as the same time. You stated what he mentioned and then you stated what you thought. What stood out to me was what you said in response to Banach- "Banach is not right because if he is and we are completely alone then I am concerned. Because then everything we feel or connect with others is fake which would make life sad. I agree with you because even though we understand ourselves better than anyone else we are still able to feel/ have similar feelings which allows us to connect with each other. I think that maybe you could have tried to answer your question "when we connect with others, do we just imagine it?"
Maybe you could have proved or disproved him.
Your post got straight to the point of the first part of his lecture. Nice.
I liked how you used quotes from the lecture so I got a better understanding of what parts you were talking about. Basically you made me feel like you agreed with what David Banach was saying about us being the only one's who can truly feel what we are feeling and in the moments we feel them.
What really stuck out to me was when you said "People only see our appearance and we could easily lie to them saying that we are okay but really not." I can connect this to us putting on masks in our everyday lives so that we don't have to show people who we really are or what we are feeling.
You also helped me develop my own thoughts on the quotes you mentioned a little more. I agree with what you said about people trying to relate to our feelings but that our feelings could have been a "different" type of feeling from theirs. I think that we understand ourselves better than others do. We can't understand other people's thoughts or feelings as best they can.
So my question is do you agree with the quote in the lecture "each of us is alone in this world"?
Michelle,
I liked how you agreed with what Banach had to say about "absolute individuals" in his lecture and questioned it as the same time. You stated what he mentioned and then you stated what you thought. What stood out to me was what you said in response to Banach- "Banach is not right because if he is and we are completely alone then I am concerned. Because then everything we feel or connect with others is fake which would make life sad. I agree with you because even though we understand ourselves better than anyone else we are still able to feel/ have similar feelings which allows us to connect with each other. I think that maybe you could have tried to answer your question "when we connect with others, do we just imagine it?"
Maybe you could have proved or disproved him.
Your post got straight to the point of the first part of his lecture. Nice.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
1st Post
When thinking about the three questions David Banach poses in the first paragraph of his lecture "The Ethics of Absolute Freedom" which are "What can the absolute freedom of absolute individuals mean?" "What is human flourishing or human happiness?" “What ethics or code of action can emerge from a position that takes our individuality seriously?"I want to reflect on my own life and how I chose to live it to try and answer them. I think that the "absolute freedom" of an individual means someone who does whatever they want, they believe whatever they want and so on because they have the right to do so. I think that "absolute individuals" have the right to enjoy their lives as they please. Individuals have that freedom to be who they want. Freedom could mean something different for everyone.
I think that as long as you don't have any regrets about the way you choose to live your life and are happy with the outcome then that's all that should matter. What brings us happiness in life? I feel like we should strive for those things. When it comes to the code of action or set of ethics on how we should live our life- what is the right way to live? I don't believe that anyone really knows the answer to this question. Is there a right or wrong way to life your life? This too may be different for everyone.
I think that as long as you don't have any regrets about the way you choose to live your life and are happy with the outcome then that's all that should matter. What brings us happiness in life? I feel like we should strive for those things. When it comes to the code of action or set of ethics on how we should live our life- what is the right way to live? I don't believe that anyone really knows the answer to this question. Is there a right or wrong way to life your life? This too may be different for everyone.
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