|
Happiness is not
Subjective
Dear Editor,
Re: "Come on Get Happy" -- by Mark Kingwell -- March 1998 -- Saturday Night
Magazine
Poor Mark Kingwell. He spent US$ 1,175 for a week-long happiness "camp"
to find happiness and couldn't find it anywhere. No wonder. His instructor holds
that "the world is all make-believe, a series of constructions that we could
easily shape into happiness as unhappiness." In other words, happiness is totally
subjective -- a matter of New Age rituals and self-hypnosis divorced from reason
and the achievement of objective values in reality.
Kingwell, a philosopher, didn't fall for such nonsense. He apparently seeks an objective
theory of happiness. He mentioned the views of a few philosophers (including the
great Aristotle) and concluded that happiness is a "matter of rational satisfaction
with your character and actions." But this is not quite satisfactory since it
offers no standard by which one can rationally judge one's character and actions
to be good.
I was disappointed that Kingwell never mentioned the philosopher who did provide
an objective theory of happiness, a theory that can be validated logically via induction.
For a tiny fraction of the "camp" fee, Kingwell could have purchased "Objectivism:
The Philosophy of Ayn Rand" by Leonard Peikoff, which contains a whole chapter
called Happiness, which even includes her unique theory of sex -- a topic which obviously
excites Kingwell.
To briefly summarize Ayn Rand's theory, happiness is that state of non-contradictory
joy that proceeds from the achievement of one's values in reality. Whether something
is an objective value is determined not by whim but by reason -- by identifying a
causal relationship between it and one's life. Objective values can range from good
food, medicine, electric generators, telecommunications, Saturday Night, friendship,
an exciting career, romantic love, honesty, integrity, justice, sex, etc. Values
range in terms of importance and hierarchy. Reason itself is a top value because
it allows one to identify and achieve all one's other values. The standard of value
(missing in Kingwell's formulation and his article) is not some mystic belief or
subjective feeling but the good life -- the life proper to a rational human being.
And what about Ayn Rand's theory of sex? If Kingwell wants to know, he should ask
for his money back from the "camp" and buy Dr. Peikoff's wonderful book.
Sincerely,
Glenn Woiceshyn
© 1998 Glenn Woiceshyn.
All rights reserved. This article can be found on-line at at http://www.capitalism.org/glennw. |
|
