Happiness Hypothesis Part 9 of 10: The Felicity of Virtue

May 20, 2010 by dr. lam

ben_franklin In this chapter, Haidt discusses how a virtuous life can bring about happiness. As we have established, pleasure in vast quantities only leads to disgust. As the young Buddha realized with his harem of women, palace life, rich food, etc., he was missing something deeply. Hedonism as an end leads to a quick surfeit and short-circuit.

The example that opens the chapter is Ben Franklin, who despite his manifold achievements in diverse fields, lived his life by focusing each week on a particular virtue, ensuring each day that he did not violate that virtue with a black mark on his calendar. Although he self-admittedly failed at humility (he faked it well), he lived a richer life because he adhered to a code that guided his life.

Altruism in the form of volunteerism can promote health and happiness but interestingly in broad sociological evaluations not equally across the different age brackets. For the younger teenager who is just establishing his or her own identity and forming new social networks, volunteerism is not as critical a factor to developing happiness. For the middle-aged person who has established his or her own “story” of virtue, volunteerism that conforms to that narrative can help considerably. However, in the elderly, volunteerism can more certainly create a healthier and happier life and perhaps even prolong it. The reason for that assertion is several fold: the elderly have begun to lose their social strands through death and separation, and meaning is more defined for them by giving back than by achieving.

Durkeim whom we have cited before has asserted that societies that have no consistent moral fiber, a state in which he defines as anomie, has a less than happy populace. When we support complete freedom without accountability, we enter an anomic society that can lead to purported greater unhappiness. As humans, we gain happiness by having a sense of justice and order.

Martin Seligman who in 1998 founded the field of positive psychology tried to move us away from looking at pathological mental diseases and toward how we can live fuller, better lives. He argued that living life by six common virtuous traits that he found across cultures (wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence) would help us live these more enriched lives. He then subdivided these six traits into specific character traits (that obviously the author states could be debated):

Wisdom
1. Curiosity
2. Love of learning
3. Judgment
4. Ingenuity
5. Emotional intelligence
6. Perspective
Courage
1. Valor
2. Perseverance
3. Integrity
Humanity
1. Kindness
2. Loving
Justice
1. Citizenship
2. Fairness
3. Leadership
Temperance
1. Self-control
2. Prudence
3. Humility
Transcendence
1. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
2. Gratitude
3. Hope
4. Spirituality
5. Forgiveness
6. Humor
7. Zest

The point of this blog is not to espouse a religious or political agenda (as you know I have abstained from such platforms) but to help anyone of any persuasion see the merit of living a virtuous life, if for no other reason as it is a foundation for attaining happiness.

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