{"id":13579,"date":"2010-01-26T20:43:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-27T04:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.philosophyforchildren.org\/happiness\/"},"modified":"2010-01-26T20:43:00","modified_gmt":"2010-01-27T04:43:00","slug":"happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>\n
I had an interesting discussion today about happiness with the fifth grade students with whom I’ve been doing philosophy this year. We started with an exercise I adapted from David White’s book <\/span><\/span><\/span>Philosophy for Kids<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/i>. I gave the students a list of 8 activities — having fun with a friend, reading a book, sitting in a dentist’s chair, eating your favorite foods, etc. — and asked them to rank them according to how important they were as elements of happiness.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
Most of the students ranked activities like having fun with a friend, helping a classmate, and eating your favorite foods as the most important for happiness. Sitting in a dentist’s chair was by far the activity ranked by the students as the least important for happiness.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
When I asked the students why the things that made the top of the list were important for happiness, most agreed that these things were fun and\/or made them feel good. “So are happiness and pleasure the same thing?” I asked them.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
“I think they’re two different things,” one student responded. “You could have happiness without having fun.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
I asked if anyone could think of an example where something was pleasurable but didn’t lead to happiness.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
“Playing video games is pleasurable, but it isn’t important to happiness,” replied a student. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cI think having fun is part of happiness, but you can be happy without having fun,\u201d another child offered. \u201cSometimes I feel happy but I\u2019m not having fun.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
We began talking about the activity of sitting in the dentist\u2019s chair, which most of the students ranked as an 8, not very important for happiness. Some students thought it was important for happiness, and the reasons they gave included having fun playing in the chair and enjoying laughing gas. \u201cAre there any other reasons sitting in a dentist\u2019s chair might be important for happiness?\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t put it as an 8, going to the dentist is just something you have to do to keep your teeth in shape and your mouth healthy. It\u2019s not pleasurable, I don\u2019t enjoy it, but it\u2019s important for happiness to have your mouth be healthy. Really, sitting in a dentist\u2019s chair is essential.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cSo is happiness a feeling?\u201d I asked.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
Most of the students thought so. One student mused, \u201cI think happiness is both a thought and a feeling. How you think about what\u2019s going on is part of happiness. It\u2019s a feeling and a thought. So maybe together that’s happiness — having both the feeling that you’re happy and that you know that what’s going on is a good thing.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cI want to know,\u201d a student remarked, \u201cif there any real happiness. Or is it just satisfaction? What’s the difference between satisfaction and happiness<\/span><\/span>?\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
We then talked about eudamonia, the classical Greek word for happiness, and the idea that perhaps happiness is not a feeling but refers to the state of your life. I explained to the students Aristotle’s conception of happiness as self-actualization, as living the best life you can live, being the best person you can be.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
\u201cSo if you\u2019re a king and you\u2019ve been a great king, doing really good things for your kingdom, for you that would be happiness,\u201d imagined a student.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/div>\n
And another student reflected, \u201cAnd for me laughter is important to happiness. So it could be that laughter is an important part of living the best life I can.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had an interesting discussion today about happiness with the fifth grade students with whom I’ve been doing philosophy this year. We started with an exercise I adapted from David White’s book Philosophy for Kids. I gave the students a list of 8 activities — having fun with a friend, reading a book, sitting in … Happiness<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13388,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[201,196,195],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classroom-discussion","category-philosophy-for-children","category-wondering-aloud"],"yoast_head":"\nHappiness - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Happiness - a post from PLATO - The Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/happiness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Happiness - 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