Daniel G. Brinton
The Pursuit of Happiness: A Book of Studies and Strowings
Published by Good Press, 2019
EAN 4057664605191
Table of Contents
I. Is a Guide to Happiness Possible? And, if Possible, is it Desirable?
II. The Definition of Happiness.
III. The Relative Value of Pleasures.
IV. The Distribution of Happiness.
V. Principles of a Self-Education for the Promotion of One’s Own Happiness.
I. Our Bodily and Mental Constitutions.
II. Our Physical Surroundings.
I. Our Occupations, those of Necessity and those of Choice.
II. Money-making, its Laws and its Limits.
III. The Pleasures we may Derive from our Senses.
IV. The Pleasures we may Derive from our Emotions.
V. The Pleasures we may Derive from the Intellect.
VI. The Satisfaction of the Religious Sentiment.
VII. The Cultivation of Our Individuality.
I. What Others Give Us: Safety, Liberty, Education.
II. What we Owe Others: Morality, Duty, Benevolence.
III. The Practice of Business and the Enjoyment of Society.
IV. On Fellowship, Comradeship and Friendship.
V. Love, Marriage, and the Family Relation.
I. The Removal of Unhappiness.
II. The Inseparable Connection of Pleasure and Pain.
III. The Education of Suffering.
PART I.
Happiness as the Aim of Life.
I. Is a Guide to Happiness Possible? And if Possible, is it Desirable?
Objections to the Pursuit of Happiness as a Low and Selfish Aim.—Answered by the Fact that we Cannot do Otherwise than Pursue it.—Enjoyment is not a Sin, but a Duty.—No One Can Impart Happiness who does not Possess it Himself.—It is Desirable, therefore, that Men be Taught How to become Happy.—Nor is this a Commendation of Selfishness,
pp. 9−14
II. The Definition of Happiness.
Happiness is not Pleasure, but is Built Upon it.—Explanation of Pleasure and Pain in Sensation.—Happiness Dependent on the Will and Self-consciousness.—Difference Between Self-feeling and Self-seeking.—Happiness is the Increasing Consciousness of Self.—It may be Derived from Other than Pleasurable Feelings.—The Yearning for Joy is a Cry of Nature.—It is the Secret of Evolution,
pp. 15−20
III. The Relative Value of Pleasures.
All Pleasures are Inseparably Connected.—The Error of Religions and Philosophies which Condemn Any.—Escape from Pain the Lowest Form of Pleasure.—Indifference to Pleasure a Sign of Mental Failing.—Contentment is not Happiness.—Happiness means Expansion and Growth.—Practical Difficulty in Comparing Pleasures.—The Hierarchy of Enjoyments.—The Blunders of Asceticism.—The Equality of Pleasures, as Such,
pp. 21−25
IV. The Distribution of Happiness.
Relation of Happiness to the Means of Happiness.—Law of the “Rate of Pleasure.”—The Extremes of the Social Order Equally Unfavorable.—Civilization does not Increase Personal Enjoyment.—Social Evils Diminish, but Personal Sufferings Increase.—The Motive of the True Civilization.—Women Have Less Happiness than Men.—Partly through their Physical Nature, Partly through Social Impositions.—Pernicious, Legal and Ecclesiastical Restrictions.—The True and False Education of Women.—Man will Profit by Woman’s Improvement.—Childhood and Youth not the Happiest Periods of Life.—Enjoyment Should Increase with Mental and Physical Vigor.—Old Age is not the Period of Wisdom.—Spurious Enjoyments of the Aged.
pp. 26−35
V. Principles of a Self-Education for the Promotion of One’s Own Happiness.
Happiness is the Reward of Effort.—The Greatest Efficiency is not the Greatest Happiness.—The Principles of a Self-Education:—I. The Multiplication of the Sources of Enjoyment—What these