Abstract

The concept of happiness has been studied since Greek antiquity. Plato expresses in the myth of the winged chariot the impossibility of achieving happiness when man does not master his passions. For Aristotle, happiness was eudaimonia (ἐὐδαιμοηια), which was achieved through the practice of virtue -- understood as the habit of doing good. In our days, authors such as Ellouz and Cabanas (2019) have addressed the issue of happycracy and Seligman (2002 and 2009) that of happiness, through Positive Psychology. This article reflects on the concept of happiness in history and its relationship with the three referents of classical philosophy: truth, good and beauty. Education enables the integral development of the person, understood as the achievement of the potential that exists within each person that leads to appropriate behavior, thus achieving that personal well-being that we call happiness. It discusses whether digital technologies can lead us or lead us away from happiness. The article tries to give an answer to questions such as: can we be educated to develop a happy biography? How much influence does education have in achieving happiness? Can effort and work well done be a source of happiness? The cultivation of positive emotions and life goals reinforces self-esteem and empathy, which help to cope with the unavoidable stresses of life. It also critically addresses the concept of happycracy and its meaning in relation to positive psychology, as well as to the ideology and interests of all kinds that underlie many of today's marketing proposals for a happy life. In conclusion, we can affirm that achieving happiness and developing a happy personality is a noble human aspiration. Is being happy a right or a duty imposed on us by society? We are sure that it is a right and we know the target, but we do not know the path. Moreover, today's society offers us so many ways to reach the goal that we do not know which one to choose, and as a result we often fail in being happy.

Highlights

  • For as long as man has been homo sapiens, he has been in search of the three great references of classical philosophy: truth, good, and beauty

  • Marino Latorre: Happiness Versus Happycracy, as an Imperative of Life virtuous? Socrates goes beyond the conception of his fellow citizens and asserts that virtue is "an inner quality of the human being" that can be taught through paideia

  • Socrates affirms that virtue is "an inner quality of the human being" that can be taught through paideia

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Summary

Introduction

For as long as man has been homo sapiens, he has been in search of the three great references of classical philosophy: truth, good, and beauty. To the question of what is good for man, Aristotle replies that in order to know this, one must ask oneself what the end of man’s life is. This is one of the objectives, but it is not the only one nor the most relevant; there is something more important than that; one attends school and university to learn how to live better and develop a happy biography, being useful citizens to the society in which one lives This is achieved through the acquisition of wisdom; it is more an apprenticeship of the student than a lesson from the teacher and is the result of the observation of the facts of nature, of society, of life itself, of reflection, internalization and personal conclusions. The final process that summarizes all the previous discourse can be summa-rized in this sequence: Information >>> knowledge >>> wisdom >>> virtue >>> knowing how to live

Education and Happiness
Happycracy or Happiness as an Imperative of Life
Findings
Conclusion
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