Happiness as a Descriptive Standard or as a Standard to be Pursued

Abstract

It is not self-evident that happiness should be used as a standard in our personal life or in politics. We can make value-free inventories of pros and cons and suggest some options. There are different modalities. Happiness can be used as a descriptive standard to detect problems, to be put on the agenda, but also in a more ambitious way to decide about priorities. In classical utilitarianism happiness can be used as a standard to maximize happiness in general; in negative utilitarianism it can be used as a standard to minimize unhappiness first of all. It is practical to summarize first how confusion about happiness has been reduced, in view of the current definition and results of research. Decisions to use happiness as a descriptive standard, or as a standard to be pursued, are not value-free. Before we decide we should have a brief look at possible tensions with alternative standards.