people find happiness (pleasure) in so many things

how many believe it a 'right' for each of the billions on the earth to pursue whatever gives them pleasure? I always found the idea irrational and chaotic, personally.

wen researching , I found this interesting take on the interpretation:


Jefferson admired Epicurus and owned eight copies of De rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) by Lucretius, a Roman disciple of Epicurus. In a letter Jefferson wrote to William Short on October 13, 1819, he declared, “I too am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greece and Rome have left us.” At the end of the letter, Jefferson made a summary of the key points of Epicurean doctrine, including:

Moral.—Happiness the aim of life.
Virtue the foundation of happiness.
Utility the test of virtue.

Properly understood, therefore, when John Locke, Samuel Johnson, and Thomas Jefferson wrote of “the pursuit of happiness,” they were invoking the Greek and Roman philosophical tradition in which happiness is bound up with the civic virtues of courage, moderation, and justice
- See more at: http://hnn.us/article/46460#sthash.G8wvcbSF.dpuf


VIRTUOUS LIVING,, not just life that gives us personal and egotistic 'pleasure'


I find Ms Hamiltons perspective to be much more rational than the modern 'right to do whatever gives me pleasure' sentiment.

OOOOh this sends chills down my Epicurean spine! Did you read the Swerve, which holds that when De Rerum Natura was rediscovered, it sparked the Reniassance. I am pleased that a certain Anti-Scienc-ite can grasp the actual teachings of Epicurus and not fall for how Xians have tried to distort him into some sort of Hedonist.

IN my forty odd years, I have not known a Christian that fits that description

I just though the article was interesting,,lol

Forty odd years , is the emphasis on the odd? LOL! Wait I cracked myself up- give me a minute. Never? I find it ODD how Xians seem to not notice certain things that other Xians do. The easiest place to find a whole bunch of lies and distortions is to peek at the Catholic Encyclopedia

odd, as in , not an EVEN number,,,lol

and why would a Christian noticing what Christians do be any more ODD than non Christians noticing?


would it be more weird for a woman to notice what women do than for a man to notice what women do?

or for a sports fan to notice what sports fans do than for non sports fans to notice?


I kind of expect people to notice these things that like minded people do,,,,,shrug

Socialism is pursuing your happiness on someone else's dime.

Where is the virtuism in that lifestyle?

ask the military and the corporations and anyone else that benefits from taxpayer money whether or not EVERY taxpayer wants them to or not...

until then, try to GET OVER IT,,,

So you would dictate the happiness of others, or their right to it, by definition rather than by personal desire?

There are moral and ethical standards, and suggested "commandments" that I believe in and practice although I am agnostic. there are also laws.

However, your rights end where mine begin in that you can not dictate what I might consider a personal happiness in my space or the course of my life. You have the right to consider it offensive, or leave, but if I have broken no laws or imposed my will thru actions in those pursuits upon your person, or personal space (not to be confused with public space governed by laws), you are more than welcome to buzz off.

that's the point

'happiness' is an extremely subjective ideal, making it hard to define, and therefore hard to apply , defend, or use as a legal basis for much of anything,,,

Epicurus once said if I had a loaf of bread and a cup of water, I feast as well as Zeus on Olympus. How is that Socialism?

I really should assume concepts such as Mindfulness and Awareness are trained skills. Esp. when I see people everyday in wheelchairs ramming into walls and other people- I just shake my head and think- you've been in a wheelchair for 10 years and have yet to learn to work it? Perhaps if you were a bit less self-centred. Of course, I can't actually say that at work

Valor and personal responsibility play major roles in pursuing personal happiness.

There were no personal income taxes until a few decades ago. No corporation welfare other than by sales and service to the public. No "Great Society". No welfare or "New Deal(s)". If they (corporations) made bad choices they failed.

Then money entered politics and greedy, corrupt politicians fueled by a growing number of corporate lobbyists invaded DC and the peoples chambers of the legislative branches. The servant seeks to becomes the master, and those who think as you have allowed it at the expense of others as well as yourself.

Judas's price was 30 pieces of silver..... what's yours?

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/a/incometax_2.htm


nothing in life is free, when you have three hundred million individuals, its gonna be FAR FROM FREE,,,,,

Tell the corporations and entitlement moochers that

labor is a resource

money isn't the only contribution that is worthwhile,,,

Pumping out kids one cannot afford is not a contribution.

if only everything were that simple

I agree, pumping out kids is not a contribution if you cant afford them

however, finding oneself struggling AFTER one has had kids they once could afford, has nothing to do with whether one has 'virtue' or is making a contribution,,,,

"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself." ~ Benjamin Franklin