{"id":648,"date":"2019-11-16T07:10:36","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T13:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/?p=648"},"modified":"2023-05-13T17:43:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-13T22:43:01","slug":"in-search-of-happiness-part-1-the-road-of-virtue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2019\/11\/16\/in-search-of-happiness-part-1-the-road-of-virtue\/","title":{"rendered":"In Search of Happiness, Part 1: The Road of Virtue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1952, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, an Ohio-born pastor who went on to minister for fifty-two years in New York City, published a book that would go on to change his life and career trajectory. The book\u2019s title? I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard of it, at least, as an idea. It\u2019s called The Power of Positive Thinking<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next installment – Part 2: The Way of Wisdom<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book earned a coveted place on the New York Times bestseller list for 186 weeks, 48 of which sitting at the top for non-fiction. It launched Peale onto the national spotlight, leading him to write over forty books during his career and achieve success as a popular author, motivational speaker, and television guest. Perhaps most importantly, it helped popularize a new way of seeing the world and approaching life\u2019s problems through positive thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Since its publication, \u201cthe power of positive thinking\u201d has become something of a mantra in the self-help world. For those who haven\u2019t read the book themselves, they have certainly heard the phrase and, generally speaking, accept it as a truism. Even as the self-help genre of literature has expanded in the last few decades, it seems that few book titles and ideas have taken root in people\u2019s minds quite like Peale’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawn Achor and the Happiness Advantage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward about sixty years. In 2010, Shawn Achor, a graduate of Harvard University with both his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees, published The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work<\/a>. In it he distills current research in neuroscience and positive psychology for a mainstream audience, showing how the effects of positive thinking can be leveraged for enhancing performance. And with the right culture in place, he argues, positive thinking can transform the future success and performance of not just individuals, but organizations, including businesses, non-profits, and, most relevant to our work at Educational Renaissance<\/a>, schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So what exactly is Achor\u2019s novel idea? What makes his book different from the growing mound of self-help literature? If you have seen his TED talk<\/a>, the one that slingshotted him into the national spotlight, you will know that it is his work on the science of happiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In it Achor observes that people typically believe a common formula about how to attain happiness: work hard, become successful, and become happy. This process seems fairly intuitive after all. The most successful among us have certainly clocked long hours working, at least, most of them, in order to reach peak performance. And it would seem that the experience of success and all its accompanying benefits–compensation, fame, material comforts–would lead to happiness, or, at least, some forms of happiness for a brief time. This is the underlying principle of the American Dream, is it not? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But what Achor goes on to show from his research, which is quite fascinating, is that we have the formula precisely backwards. Success doesn\u2019t lead to happiness, Achor argues, but rather, happiness leads to success. Happiness, optimism, and positive thinking fuel performance such that those in the workplace or the classroom who are happy regularly outperform those who tend to work with negative attitudes. This is the happiness advantage that Achor speaks of and it is his grand solution for not simply increasing profit margins in corporations, but for helping teachers achieve better results in their classrooms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Happiness?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Of course, Achor\u2019s entire theory hinges on two big ideas: 1) his definition of happiness and 2) how to obtain it. So what is his definition? On the one hand, he follows findings in positive psychology to define happiness as \u201cthe experience of positive emotions–pleasure combined with deeper feelings of meaning and purpose\u201d (39). In this way, Achor\u2019s understanding of happiness is easily attainable, at least brief moments of it, because it is simply a temporary emotional experience. Barbara Frederickson<\/a>, professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, for example, lists the top ten positive emotions as joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, and love. At least a few of these emotional states are easy to come by, at least, for a short while. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But notice that Achor doesn\u2019t limit his understanding of happiness to mere emotional experience. This we might expect of him, especially given his book\u2019s categorization in somewhat of a notorious genre. But Achor, who has a master\u2019s degree in religious ethics, connects happiness to something classical educators should find much more amenable: meaning and purpose. In fact, Achor goes on to crystallize his definition of happiness as \u201cthe joy we feel striving after our potential\u201d (40).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

This definition hits much closer to home in the classical tradition. In fact, it shares some conceptual likenesses to the Greek philosopher Aristotle\u2019s writings. In general, Aristotle\u2019s definition of happiness can be summarized as life-fulfillment and human flourishing, but a closer look will reveal the integral relationship that exists for the philosopher between happiness and virtue<\/a>. We will then see that Aristotle\u2019s definition of virtue and Achor\u2019s idea of \u201cstriving after our potential\u201d aren\u2019t all that dissimilar, and that both play a role in their views of happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aristotle on Happiness and Virtue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Aristotle, in Nicomachean Ethics<\/a>, writes that, \u201cThe happy life is regarded as a life in conformity to virtue. It is a life which involves effort and is not spent in amusement\u201d (X.6, 1177a1-2). Virtue, for Aristotle, is the quality that makes something excellent, or that which enables its possessor to perform his own particular function well (Ostwald 304). For example, the virtue of a shoemaker is his functional excellence to produce good shoes, especially as he acquires a growth mindset<\/a>. An excellent shoemaker has arete<\/em>, or virtue, with regards to his shoe-making. So the happy life, for Aristotle, is the life in which a person is conformed to excellence, or virtue, qua<\/em> human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The question becomes, then, what does it mean to be excellent as a human being? Aristotle spends quite a bit of time contemplating this question and ultimately concludes that to be excellent as a human being is to possess and practice the virtues. This approach to life, though full of effort, leads to happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two chief categories of virtues in Aristotle\u2019s mind, three if you count activities like shoemaking: physical, moral, and intellectual. Physical virtues are those virtues having to do with physical activities, like shoemaking or weightlifting. Moral virtues are those virtues having to do with character such as courage, justice, patience, and truthfulness. And intellectual virtues are those virtues having to do with the mind that one contemplates, such as intuitive understanding, science, craft expertise<\/a>, practical wisdom, and theoretical wisdom. For Aristotle, the greatest intellectual virtue to contemplate is theoretical wisdom, i.e. knowledge of necessary truths, because it contains the very form of happiness (VI.12, 1144a3-4). However, it is worth clarifying that all the virtues are worthy of practice and contemplation insofar as they entail the pursuit of excellence, which as I’ve said, is the route to happiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lasting Joy and Life-Fulfillment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So if, for Aristotle, virtue–striving for excellence–is the foundation for happiness, whether the excellence be physical, moral, or intellectual, then we can see that Achor\u2019s definition of happiness as \u201cthe joy we feel of striving after our potential\u201d isn\u2019t that far off. When we apply ourselves to deep and meaningful work, getting in the flow<\/a> and cultivating valuable skills along the way, a certain lasting joy and fulfillment is the result throughout the process. And while Aristotle would be quick to distance emotion from virtue, even joy, he wouldn\u2019t deny there is a relationship. He would simply insist that emotions, which he would view as stemming from the beastly part of being human, be kept in check by the mind, the rational and superior part of being human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears, then, that there is concord between Achor\u2019s and Aristotle\u2019s views on happiness, particularly observed in their insistence on the importance of striving for excellence. Through living a life focused on living out one’s potential, one can experience life-fulfillment, which can lead to flourishing amidst that ongoing process. Of course, it is possible for one to be pursuing the virtuous life and still become the victim of great misfortune. This is why Aristotle himself hesitates to give a perfect formula for happiness. Life is too complex and unpredictable. Nevertheless, the general road to happiness is marked by effort and seeking to apply oneself to an external standard of excellence. This is the pathway of virtue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how does this square with Achor’s idea that we should start with happiness rather than end with it? And are these ideas consistent with a Christian worldview? In Part 2 of this blog series, “The Way of Wisdom”<\/a> I will explore this question as I examine Achor\u2019s recommended practices for experiencing happiness both on the front end as well through the process of striving for excellence. These practices, I will show, have interesting parallels with what Aristotle has to say about habit<\/a> as well as what scripture says in Proverbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ostwald, Martin. Nicomachean Ethics<\/em>. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1999<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1952, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, an Ohio-born pastor who went on to minister for fifty-two years in New York City, published a book that would go on to change his life and career trajectory. The book\u2019s title? I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard of it, at least, as an idea. It\u2019s called The Power of Positive 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Atchison","author_link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/author\/kolbyatchison\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In 1952, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, an Ohio-born pastor who went on to minister for fifty-two years in New York City, published a book that would go on to change his life and career trajectory. The book\u2019s title? I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard of it, at least, as an idea. It\u2019s called The Power of Positive…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa7K1D-as","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":705,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2019\/12\/07\/the-search-for-happiness-part-2-the-way-of-wisdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":0},"title":"The Search for Happiness, Part 2: The Way of Wisdom","author":"Kolby Atchison","date":"December 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In my previous blog, I examined how modern research, particularly through the avenue of positive psychology, confirms some of Aristotle\u2019s insights about human beings and the well-lived life. In particular, I observed that author Shawn Achor\u2019s definition of happiness as \u201cthe joy of striving after our potential\u201d isn\u2019t that far\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modern Research"","block_context":{"text":"Modern Research","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/modern-research\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Jungle-Path.jpg?fit=671%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Jungle-Path.jpg?fit=671%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Jungle-Path.jpg?fit=671%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2027,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2021\/04\/17\/aristotles-virtue-theory-and-a-christian-purpose-of-education\/","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":1},"title":"Aristotle’s Virtue Theory and a Christian Purpose of Education","author":"Jason Barney","date":"April 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Up till now in this series I have evaluated Bloom\u2019s taxonomy and mostly used Aristotle\u2019s intellectual virtues as a foil in my critique. And so while I have, to a certain extent, defined and described Aristotle\u2019s five intellectual virtues, alongside offering an outline snapshot of a classical Christian educational paradigm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Biblical worldview"","block_context":{"text":"Biblical worldview","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/biblical-worldview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Aristotle close-up as famously portrayed by Raphael with arm stretched forward indicating his engagement in the human world of moral excellence, virtue and habits","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/raphael_detail-aristotle-from-the-school-of-athens.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/raphael_detail-aristotle-from-the-school-of-athens.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/raphael_detail-aristotle-from-the-school-of-athens.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/raphael_detail-aristotle-from-the-school-of-athens.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/raphael_detail-aristotle-from-the-school-of-athens.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":948,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2020\/02\/29\/the-flow-of-thought-part-8-restoring-the-school-of-philosophers\/","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":2},"title":"The Flow of Thought, Part 8: Restoring the School of Philosophers","author":"Jason Barney","date":"February 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In my last article, The Flow of Thought, Part 7: Rediscovering Science as the Love of Wisdom, I made a case for the value of re-envisioning natural science as philosophy. While science might never come to mind today when philosophy is discussed, this was not always the case. The association\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classical Tradition"","block_context":{"text":"Classical Tradition","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/classical-tradition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Socrates in front of the Academy in Athens","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/%CE%A3%CF%89%CE%BA%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%91%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B4%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%AF%CE%B1_%CE%91%CE%B8%CE%B7%CE%BD%CF%8E%CE%BD_6616.jpg?fit=512%2C668&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":361,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2019\/08\/10\/the-flow-of-thought-part-1-training-the-attention-for-happiness-sake\/","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":3},"title":"The Flow of Thought, Part 1: Training the Attention for Happiness\u2019 Sake","author":"Jason Barney","date":"August 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It may seem strange to look to modern psychology for support of classical education. After all, it\u2019s the vagaries of modern thought that have got us into this educational trouble in the first place. The abandonment of tradition, the scientism and revolutionary overhaul of religion have all taken their toll\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classical Tradition"","block_context":{"text":"Classical Tradition","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/classical-tradition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Girle reading Oxford English Dictionary in the flow of thought","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Girl-reading-Oxford-English-Dictionary.jpg?fit=1200%2C925&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Girl-reading-Oxford-English-Dictionary.jpg?fit=1200%2C925&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Girl-reading-Oxford-English-Dictionary.jpg?fit=1200%2C925&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Girl-reading-Oxford-English-Dictionary.jpg?fit=1200%2C925&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Girl-reading-Oxford-English-Dictionary.jpg?fit=1200%2C925&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3845,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2023\/06\/24\/practicing-happiness-ancient-wisdom-for-our-modern-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":4},"title":"Practicing Happiness: Ancient Wisdom for Our Modern World","author":"Patrick Egan","date":"June 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The pursuit of happiness is one of three rights originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson in the \u201cDeclaration of Independence.\u201d These \u201cunalienable rights\u201d are \u201clife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d It is an odd turn of phrase, but one that has a profound backdrop to it, one which we have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classical Tradition"","block_context":{"text":"Classical Tradition","link":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/category\/classical-tradition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/educationalrenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Young-and-Old-Jules-Zermati-Oil-Painting-510x383-1.jpg?fit=510%2C383&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":66,"url":"https:\/\/educationalrenaissance.com\/2018\/10\/05\/aristotle-and-the-growth-mindset\/","url_meta":{"origin":648,"position":5},"title":"Aristotle and the Growth Mindset","author":"Jason Barney","date":"October 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Whether you\u2019ve been involved in the world of education, sports, self-help or business, it\u2019s likely that you\u2019ve heard of Carol Dweck\u2019s growth mindset. A Stanford University psychologist, Carol Dweck popularized her findings about how much success in any endeavor depends on a person\u2019s mindset. 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