I really wish she would have given us a better idea of what human happiness was. I feel like putting so much emphasis on that concept, but not clarifying her ideas of it, kind of lessened the value of the argument she was trying to make. We all have our own personal ideas of what are the basic things that make humans happy, but I'm curious to know what she was thinking. That was something I wish I could have understood better from this reading.
If I were to write about what I thought one facet of human happiness was, I would probably say...relationships. In my life, I have seen how relationships have given me the most happiness. My relationship with God, my friends, and my family remind me that life is worth it, even when life gets hard. I remember my freshman year of college, my parents hid a card in my suitcase, and I didn't find it until after they left. I taped it to my wall up on my loft so every night before I went to bed I could read it, and remember how much they loved me. It was moments like that when I felt so undeserving of being able to experience happiness and love like that. Of course there are many different things that make people happy, but relationships are what stand out to me the most.
It seems like I'm not the only one...check out this video!
I too, feel as though Martineau should have identified more what she meant by human happiness. Do you think she did not define it because she felt human happiness was more of a case by case measure? I think this is very possible. Happiness is different to everybody, whether that be relationships, money, family, succes, it is happiness to that specific person. I feel when those things are ripped away from us we find different forms of happiness. Happiness is a difficult subject because it can be so different to everybody. Maybe Martineau simply wanted to get us thinking about what happiness ment to us, and refocus on that. Overall, a really great blog post! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that she didnt clarify what human happiness really is and that it would have helped us understand it more if she had. I also think that happiness can come in many forms and I agree that relationships are a huge part of being happy. Just like you my relationships with God and my family are the most important things in my life and which make me happy.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your views in this blog about happiness and I agree with much of what you said. I also think that Martineau had many good points that may have been deemphasized in a way because she didn't quite expand on what "happiness" we should be looking for. Different cultures may find different things cause them happiness, as I believe there are some basic things we can all agree on, such as physiological needs and safety. I think we all have different views as to what can make us happy because we have grown up in different cultures. I think it's true that overall we can judge how fair a society is depending on the average happiness.
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