What Can Philosophy Teach Us About Happiness?

In a world filled with wellness apps, self-help books, and endless reels and threads claiming to espouse valuable psychological knowledge, it can be easy to make mistakes in our pursuit of joy and thriving. Since anyone’s voice can be amplified, it is often difficult to decipher what information is helpful and what is not. The question remains unanswered: what makes us happy? Unsurprisingly, the answer comes not from social media influencers and spam accounts, but from philosophers—both established and from thousands of years ago.

The first philosopher on our journey to understand happiness is Aristotle. He claimed that happiness was not simply fulfilling one’s desires, but rather a process of living virtuously and reaching one’s potential, called eudaimonia. His perspective was that happiness is an activity, not a feeling. Specifically, contributing to society will help an individual reach this point of joy.

Epicurus stands as the next great thinker to look toward. Misunderstood as a hedonist, he in fact advocated for friendship, reflection, moderation, and freedom from unnecessary desire. He believed that real happiness originated in freedom from fear and the elimination of excess craving.

Our third pillar of happiness is Stoicism, as described by Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus. Rather than focusing on factors out of our control, Stoics choose to master their inner world, since life is about perspective. They focus on controlling their internal responses, as opposed to external events. Stoicism thus depicts happiness as inner peace, achieved by living in accordance with reason and nature.

Finally, Buddhism takes an interesting approach. These philosophers argue that suffering stems from attachment and craving. In order to achieve true happiness, Buddhists let go of their desires, embracing impermanence through mindfulness and compassion. Their joy is found through a sort of detachment, rather than dissociation.

In modern life, we are fed the belief that we ought to continually chase material goods—wealth, status, and victory. However, we can incorporate various strands of these philosophies into our lives, such as practicing moderation (Epicurus), focusing on self-discipline (Stoicism), or finding meaning beyond materialism (Aristotle and Buddhism).

Of course, strictly abiding by any singular philosophy is difficult in the modern age. So, the pursuit of multiple may be best. For example, although a true Stoic might spend hours meditating each day, we do not have to incorporate the full extent of their philosophy to receive the benefits. Instead of becoming depressed after a romantic breakup or failing a class, we can apply Stoic principles—seeing these failures as opportunities to improve and avenues to pursue freedom in other areas. By combining multiple philosophical strategies, we can find meaning in our lives while protecting our sanity and joy.

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." — Aristotle