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Happiness was nominated as a Social sciences and society good article, but it did not meet the good article criteria at the time (June 13, 2021). There are suggestions on the review page for improving the article. If you can improve it, please do; it may then be renominated.

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This article was selected as the article for improvement on 5 August 2024 for a period of one week.

Uh... about the lead

I'm experiencing the most intense feeling of writer's block since a long while. Does anybody here have any ideas about expanding the lead? CactiStaccingCrane (talk) 21:37, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Pinging recent-ish editors that has made substantial edits here to the discussion: User:Sinopecynic, User:Ecangola, and User:XMcan CactiStaccingCrane (talk) 21:44, 8 June 2023 (UTC)

Planned edits

Just a heads up that I plan on expanding the Positive Psychology and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy sections of this page. They are looking a little slim on information, and a few basics could bring some clarity to these topics. As there has been a request for expansion on the Positive Effects section, I may expand that section a bit too. Itsallinthedetails (talk) 20:00, 19 June 2023 (UTC) Itsallinthedetails (talk) 20:00, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

Fulfilled request to expand positive effect section

I've expanded the positive effect section of this page. I'm not sure if we want to remove the request or not, or if more expansion is still needed or wanted. Perhaps more on the negative effect part?Itsallinthedetails (talk) 22:52, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

Explanation of happiness

Happiness is revealing rules by generating and combining to predict presence of input signal. Tzsf (talk) 15:50, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

interesting, but please could you expand? thanks Asto77 (talk) 19:35, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Changes of meaning over time unclear

In the Definition section the part about "Changes of meaning over time" is currently just stating, that the meaning now is different than the meaning of the word was when the US declaration of inderpendance was formed. However it does not state how the meaning changed or give any other information. In my opinion just stating that this is different does not provide much information. It is also unclear why this is relevant, since this article a priory does not have anything to do with the US or the declatation of inderpendance. TheFibonacciEffect (talk) 15:35, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

Hi. My thinking here was that sometimes people reach back to the Declaration of Independence when talking about happiness, not realising that the word had a very different meaning then. I just wanted to help people who might otherwise make that error. Clearly all languages are 'living' and word meanings change, but in this case particularly so. Asto77 (talk) 16:43, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

I think there are two quite different things called either "happiness" or "joy": (1) the (temporary) emotion and (2) the (lasting) attitude or self-image. I tend to call the temporary emotion "joy" and the long-term attitude or self-image "happiness", but some authors seem to do the opposite.

For example the World Happiness Report is clearly not about the emotion. LucSaffre (talk) 08:23, 3 February 2024 (UTC)

yes the World happiness Report uses the swb (subjective well being) definition which is like your lasting impression idea. See ref 31 ('John Helliwell, World Happiness Report) in the article for more on that. The current 'Definitions' section of the article tries to explain these differences. Asto77 (talk) 17:17, 3 February 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 April 2024

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Officialelfloor (talk) 03:37, 8 April 2024 (UTC) Please add a :) I think it would make people really happy and ad something really good to the world

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ''']''' (talk|contribs) 03:44, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: College Composition II

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2024 and 11 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Typical imagine (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Lindseybean28 (talk) 21:26, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

"Enjoyment" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Enjoyment has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Misplaced Pages:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 August 14 § Enjoyment until a consensus is reached. 1234qwer1234qwer4 20:15, 14 August 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 12 October 2024

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108.160.183.54 (talk) 19:59, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

Jacob is Happiness

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Shadow311 (talk) 20:58, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

The article makes superficial case of Aristotle's wording about happiness.

In Book 1, chapter 7, Aristotle says :

“Happiness (eudaimonia), therefore, is an activity of the soul in accordance with perfect virtue.”

The idea is that happiness is derived from virtue.

In the context of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, “virtue” (aretê in Greek) refers to an excellent or praiseworthy disposition that enables a person to act—and feel—in the right way, at the right time, and toward the right objects.

Virtue is not just a single action but rather a habit or stable disposition (hexis) to behave in the mean between excess and deficiency. For example, “courage” is the mean between cowardice (deficiency) and recklessness (excess). True virtue is guided by the right use of reason (the intellectual component).

Aristotle often stresses that to act virtuously, one must know what is right, choose what is right for its own sake, and act from a firm character. Thus, virtue involves not just correct outward action but also the correct inner state and motivation.

Qualities like courage, temperance, generosity, honesty, etc., developed through habit and practice form the Moral virtues. Qualities of the mind—such as wisdom (sophia), prudence (phronēsis), and understanding—developed primarily through instruction and learning form the Intellectual virtues.

Aristotle’s famous “Doctrine of the Mean” stresses that virtue is generally found as a mean or balance: not too much, not too little. This “mean” is relative to each individual, depending on the situation and guided by prudence (phronēsis).

In short, for Aristotle, virtue is a deeply ingrained disposition to choose wisely, to act well, and to feel appropriately, all of which together form the basis of a happy (eudaimôn) life.

It entails that one must be happy when one's moral and intellectual disposition is characterised by conscious choice. To be happy is therefore to be 'well-behaved' insofar as one's potential of action is, within one's context. As circular as this may seem, the operative concept is grounded and explained in the notion of virtue, a label under which one finds the "qualities" of the mind. To be happy is opt for these qualities, and to feel their presence as a reward.

To be happy is to be inhabited by a fondness for qualities, as opposed to quantity ; the latter are the in realm of Pleonexia (“having or wanting more than one’s share”), which Aristole links in Book 5 with injustice ; while in Book 3 they surface as "Akolasia", or lack of moderation.

All of these notions come down to Aristotle’s central point: a virtue aims at the mean between two extremes (excess and deficiency), but if someone habitually pushes for the “more” rather than the “fitting,” that person is operating outside the mean and into the realm of vice ; a disposition which leads after short-lived pleasure, to unhappiness.

This contrast between Pleasure and Happiness is central in Greek philosophy and can be found in numerous authors, like Epicurus, Plato, Zeno and others. The general lack of understanding in the general public renders Utilitarian expressions such as "Life and the Pursuit of Happiness" as tantamount to the "Pursuit of Satisfaction". It is telling that the methods by which we attempt to measure happiness among world populations are equally ignorant of the fundamental and problematic dichotomy between pleasure and happiness.

Being a psychologist, a sociologist or a pollster is no guarantee that one masters this subject matter at all, and what measures we have in publications today that purport to gauge the distribution of population happiness is essentially hogwash. 154.125.14.2 (talk) 14:09, 31 December 2024 (UTC)

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