What is the relationship between morality and
happiness?
Moral values are required to achieve happiness. If each of us has kindness,
honesty, purity and humility as our dominating character traits, we will be
happier and more relaxed.
We will be able to sleep well at night because we will have a clean
conscience. When we are selfless, generous, treat others well, do what is
right and avoid what is wrong, our mind is lighter and we are less bothered
by others misbehavior.
We will also have the ability to admit when we are wrong, and regret our
wrong actions thereby working to correct ourselves.
We have more patience for others, more compassion for others and more
ability to improve our own wisdom and help others to do the same by
becoming a role model. In short, we enjoy a freedom that nobody can take
away from us.
On the other hand, when we are dishonest, greedy, selfish, and do immoral
deeds, our mind is heavy and constantly negative. We breed more fear
that others will treat us the same way or that we will have a negative
consequence for our actions. We will become prisoners of our own guilt
and ill feelings,
So that , Morality affects the way a person feels about themselves and their
actions, or about others. By definition, this term is an ability to make a
distinction between right and wrong, good behavior, and bad. Happiness, in
its turn, is a sense of satisfaction with one’s life or actions. Hence, if a person
acts in accordance with their moral principles, they commit good actions, as
they are able to distinguish right from wrong, and as a result, they should feel
happy.
An alternative scenario is a person acting in accordance with their moral
principles, who does not feel happy. While it is possible, for instance, if the
views of an individual do not correspond with those of a society where they
live, the inability to achieve happiness is questionable.
This person, regardless of the way they are treated, still acts following their
morals, the principle values that are important to them. While they may
face consequences such as being judged or misunderstood, they at least
avoid lying to themselves and choosing to commit immoral actions to fit in.
Morality defines the values that are important for an individual. Here, a
question of can a person who continually chooses something that is of no
importance to them be happy arises. While this may help this individual
achieve some goals in the short-term, for example, choose a career where
they will be paid well instead of a job that corresponds to their interest. One
can argue that in the long-term, the inability to do what they actually like to
pursue a career to which they have a genuine interest will affect their
happiness. The basis of this path is a lack of moral judgment – choosing
wrong over right.
Morality is not unanimous for everyone, which explains why different
people find happiness in different things. People can have different views
on the same topic, from simple day-to-day items such as favorite breakfast
choices to more complex problems such as abortions or human rights. The
reason why the views differ is that because we value some things more than
others. Moreover, we live some things and dislike others, based on our
character, our upbringing, the education we receive and the environment or
the society we live in because these factors impact our understanding of the
world. Because there are so many factors that shape one’s morality, people
have varying views on what is right and what is wrong, although in most
cases the society forms the core of our moral system.
This uniqueness of views affects a person’s perception of life. For one
individual, helping those in need by donating money or volunteering is a
good action, which will make them happy because they fulfill their
aspirations. For another person, such help can be counter-productive, they
may think that providing education and opportunities to people is more
valuable. If the latter individual is forced to volunteer, for example, to cook
and distribute food instead of teaching a useful skill, they are likely to fill
unhappy. Their actions in this scenario contradict their understanding of
right and wrong, what they are doing is harmful to others. Here, a critical
assumption is that for most people – harming others is not pleasurable, and
they cannot feel happy doing something harmful. Moreover, a person with
the described mindset would not want to volunteer or participate in
something to help other people as it would be against their morality.
Therefore, there is a relationship between happiness and morals