Tuesday Tidbit: Aristotle’s Levels of Happiness

written by Emma Bartley

What is happiness? Everyone desires it, but only 1 in 3 American adults report themselves as happy.

What makes someone happy? When asked this question, the #1 answer was money, but studies show that once an individual reaches a $75,000 net income, there is no visible increase in overall happiness.

So how can we be truly happy? Aristotle had an answer for this. He defined four levels of happiness –

1) Happiness from Material Things

2) Happiness from Comparative Advantage (doing better than others)

3) Happiness from Seeing the Good in Others and Doing Good for Others

4) Transcendental Happiness

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” -Aristotle

Level 1: Happiness from Material Objects

The first level of happiness is gratification based on things: money, cars, food, etc. This happiness can be intense, but it is often short-lived; one desire is fulfilled and then another one must be met.  You finish a good meal, and before long find yourself hungry again.  While level one happiness isn’t inherently bad, getting stuck here can lead to a roller-coaster existence of pleasure-seeking.

Level 2: Happiness from Comparative Advantage

You know the feeling you get when you win a game or get the highest grade in the class? Or when you get a lot of likes on your Instagram photo?  That is Level 2 happiness; the happiness we get from admiration from others or being better than others. While we need some Level 2 happiness to gain self-confidence and credibility, if we focus too much on this level, we can alienate ourselves from others as we compete with them and/or become jealous of them. In addition, one achievement usually leads to the desire for another. It is difficult to find lasting happiness in Level 2.

Level 3: Happiness from Doing Good For Others

This level of happiness is based on a desire to have purpose and make a difference in the world! At this level, we move away from ourselves and focus more on the well-being of others. Level 3 happiness is more lasting and provides a deeper meaning than level 1 or 2. However, there are still limits to level 3. There will always be people who need our help; we can not solve the world’s problems and over time may find ourselves feeling discouraged.  This happiness is stronger than self-focused happiness, but it does not lead to ultimate happiness.

Level 4: Transcendental Happiness

The final level of happiness is most difficult to describe. We, as humans, search for perfect truth, goodness, beauty, being, and love.  We see this in our desire for our mate to love us perfectly, to view perfectly beautiful things, to have perfect justice and to find a perfect sense of belonging.  However, our human world often falls short in fulfilling this need.  People of faith believe that the only source of Transcendental Happiness comes from God, the source of perfection.  This level of happiness is the most enduring.

 

“For Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” -Saint Augustine