Thursday, August 13, 2009

Compare and contrast Epicurus’and Peter Singer’s theories of happiness

Compare and contrast Epicurus’and Peter Singer’s theories of happiness


All human beings live in this world with fears, sadness, difficulties, problems, and happiness. To overcome each of these particular kinds of unwilling facts, Epicurus- a famous philosopher in Hellenistic period and Peter Singer had similar and contrast ideas about happiness.
In the real world of competition, happiness is a major considering option in everybody’s mind. Epicurus realized that to satisfy and maximize happiness ones must fulfill their necessary needs such as food, clothes, shelters, or water etc while Singer claimed similar ideas about maximize it. Singer believed that to support their own live, ones have only one duty is to earn for necessary things. For example, He stated that, after ones desires have been satisfied, the state of satiety, of no longer being in need or want, is itself pleasurable.
Epicurus believed that cutting down some potential needs of unnecessary things such as luxury food, cars, or clothes, is only one way to maximize happiness, however, ones should not spurn extravagant foods, for example, if they happen to be available.
In contrast Peter Singer had contrast ideas about happiness to Epicurus through unnecessary desires. Peter Singer tended to eliminate all unnecessary desires in order to get happiness. Within his statement about the comparison of Americans and Japanese, Germans, and Colombian people, he stated that the more people need or want unnecessary things the more they minimize their happiness. He believed that when they earned much money they would spend more times on work in order to earn such kind of incomes. By spending more time or work, they were more often in bad moods such as hostile, tense, anxious, and angry. For instance, he said that Americans are richer now than they were in the 1950’s but they are not happier. Americans in low incomes have a level of happiness that is almost identical to more incomes
Furthermore Epicurus’ ideas about happiness are tend to serve for individual fulfillment. His ideas about happiness are to serve individuals to find for happiness in every circumstance by their individual ways. He suggested all people to earn their living by satisfying individual necessary needs. He believed that when ones have satisfied their own needs, the whole world might be a happy one.
Nevertheless, Peter Singer’s ideas about happiness are to make society to be happy. He wanted all people in this world be happy with in an appropriate solution especially donation. He realized that when ones are happy they should share this happiness to others through donation as much as possible. Within his statement on September 05, 1999 in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, he mentioned that donated to one of a number of charitable agencies, that money could mean the difference between life and death of children in need. To support his above declaration, he showed audiences about Brazilian film- Dora who was a retired school teacher. He wanted to show that it was not necessary to sell nine years old street child in order to get some benefits to serve for her unnecessary fulfillment such as buying new clothes or TV without considering about human rights. He compared Dora’s way of thinking to most of Americans who have TV and need to upgrade to a better one. Moreover, to ignore the individual interests, he said that by not going to restaurant for one month everybody can save one boy life. Last but not least, he suggested that to maximize happiness in this world everybody should donate some of their money to charitable organization, NGO, or local agency in order to make the whole world become meaningful.
In short, Epicurus’ and Peter Singer’s ideas about happiness are to find ways to improve people’s lifestyle. Both of them suggested that all people earn their advantages of life through limitation of desires. Epicurus wanted all people cutting down unnecessary and vain desires with in the individuals’ way while Peter Singer maximized everybody’s happiness in the whole society through donation.

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