Happiness, the Purpose of Life?

Most people will agree that the purpose of life is to be happy. Yet, the same people will agree that life is quite difficult, and that attaining such a goal depends heavily on a person's definition of happiness. It is said that attaining happiness is a goal in life, but when an artist creates something of beauty, or a scientist proves a theory, he or she feels happiness. The goal is not primarily happiness but the completion of some work, such as graduating from high school. Happiness is a pleasurable side effect that is thrown in with a person's true goal. Happiness is universal. Humans feel happiness coupled with the satisfaction of meeting a goal, and since our individual goals differ so greatly, happiness is seen as mankind's collective aim.

Humans seek happiness through different avenues. A man's search for happiness depends on how much satisfaction he believes he can gain from the external world and how much effort he plans to exert on shaping the world to satisfy his desires. According to Sigmund Freud, this is a man's libidinal type. Carl Jung defines libido as creative or psychic energy that is used for personal advancement. Libido is the ultimate, all-encompassing life drive. It opposes the death drive, in which organisms violate the pleasure principle by trying to return to a previous inanimate state instead of seeking pleasure. Libido came to be associated with sexuality, because most people channel their creative energies into their sexual desires.

Freud divided people into three main groups according to the where they channel their libido.

Libido is the drive through which a man attains his version of happiness. There are three libidinal types, one of Eros (love), narcissism, and action. A predominantly erotic man will seek happiness through his relationships with other people. A narcissistic man will pride himself in independence, and the attainment of his goals through self-sufficiency. A man of action finds happiness through showing of his strength and ability. Within these three types are many other libidinal types. Libido can be positive, meaning people seek their happiness, or negative, meaning that they avoid unhappiness.

The purpose for living is to seek happiness or to avoid unhappiness, according to Freud's pleasure principle. When man can not find happiness within himself or through his doings he seeks to find happiness in three major mediums that mask, explain or banish suffering. The first of which is religion. Freud, an atheist, termed religion as a mass delusion. In general, religion stresses that a man follow a strict moral code and the relinquish of the pleasures of the external world in exchange for an explanation for his troubles and the promise of a better life after death. The second is that of beauty which presents itself in human forms, nature, art, and science. Some base their lives on the search for beauty. Though the world is full of evil and all forms of darkness, a glimpse of pure, unsullied beauty is enough to keep us going. The third and strongest medium is that of a love object. A man can live and die for one he loves. He is happy if he can attain the favor of his love object. Yet, if he can not, he suffers.

Civilization, itself, was formed to help a person gain happiness. Primal man found that in working to tame the natural forces that caused him to suffer, an individual was not strong enough. Man had to bond together with others into families and communities in order to accomplish this. Individually man was had liberty, and independence to satisfy his desires. However, his rights only extended as far as his own strength. Anyone or anything stronger than him could subjugate him. In order to protect his rights, man had to restrict his happiness to that of a group's. The collective strength of a civilized society could attain man's goals of domination while protecting him. A civilization institutes laws and justice, so that the "brute force" of one man's needs will not endanger the survival of the group. The limits of civilization offer safety to all, but sacrifice an individual's instincts. That is why no matter how advanced technology becomes or how easy people's lives are, we are still not happy. The bourgeoisie attainment of the American dream is not enough to satisfy our desires, but is a facade of true happiness.

So, if one can not find happiness in the wild or in society, where, then can one find it? Freud concludes that happiness can not be attained. Happiness is forever incomplete. Whenever one attains a goal, and experiences a bit of happiness, Anake (necessity) drives him or her to find more happiness, and in this perpetual quest, one is never satisfied. If happiness is unattainable, then we have lost our purpose for living. Should we give up and succumb to the death drive? No, we cannot. We can never attain all that we desire, but doing what we can to gain happiness is the essence of life.