Previously, we asked you to think about whether or not you would want to live forever. Now, we want you to focus on your current life, and think about the following questions: Are you happy? Do you think your life is meaningful? Does the meaningfulness and the happiness go hand in hand? A lot of philosophers have explored this concept. Like Joseph explained in an earlier post, Bentham and Mill think happiness is the most important thing. Mill believes that not all pleasures are equal, and happiness the highest pleasure. On the other hand, May believes there needs to be a combination of active engagement and narrative values. Narrative values include things like spirituality, sincerity, creativity, courage, generosity and personal integrity. He thinks happiness is great, but not enough, and your heart needs to be dedicated to your project. Wolf also believes in active engagement, but puts more emphasis on successful and valuable projects.
To help you think about whether or not your life needs to be happy, meaningful or both, here is a list of movie characters who are also exploring this concept. You may relate your life to Iron Man or Sister Maria, or simply take comfort in that fact that people are trying to answer this complicated question everyday.
Iron Man
Throughout the Avengers movies and Iron Man franchise, Tony Stark, who’s alter ego is the superhero Iron Man, should be happy because he is saving the world, helping people and is a billionaire. However, he is very dark and sarcastic, and does not seem happy to the viewer. Despite having the qualities that someone like Wolf thinks is important to have a meaningful life, he is not happy. Do you think Iron Man’s life should equal happiness?
The Sound of Music
Sister Maria struggles throughout this movie to commit to her relationship with God or to her relationship with Mr. Von Trapp. She wants so badly to be a good nun, but after she takes time off and falls in love, it is clear she is not going to return to the convent. It would be interesting to see what a philosopher like May thinks of this because he believes in both active engagement, which means your heart needs to engaged in your life, and narrative values like spiritually. Maria did not have it in her heart to be a nun, but May thinks spirituality is very important. Which life do you think is more meaningful? Does Maria’s happiness with Mr. Von Trapp and his kids mean more than her relationship with God?
Eat, Pray, Love
After a divorce, Elizabeth quits her job as a successful travel writer to find herself and see the world a slower pace. She visits three different countries and lives in each one for four months. She spends time eating in Italy, finding her spiritually in India and looking for balance in Brazil. Elizabeth has a failed marriage and is not doing any work or projects other than working on herself, so many philosophers would not consider her life meaningful. However, Elizabeth finds happiness throughout her entire journey. Do you think happiness is or can be the meaning of life?
It’s A Wonderful Life
An angel visits George Bailey after he wishes he had never been born because he is poor, stuck in his small town and his house fill of kids is falling apart. George thinks his life is meaningless, but the angel, Clarence, shows him how life would be different without him. After George relives saving his brother, taking over the business for his father so his father can retire, his worried family and the affects of his loans, he realizes he has a lot to live for. George is then happy and proud of himself. Wolf would not call George’s life successful because his business is currently failing, but his past and his family make George happy. Do you think happiness is enough to outweigh the bad in your life? Or George’s?