The Declaration of Independence refers to the “pursuit of happiness”, which has been raised in debate to determine if the word happiness should be replaced with the word pleasure. This is a valid argument, because happiness and pleasure seem to be exchangeable, but in reality these terms involve different emotions. This paper will discuss The Declaration of Independence reference to the “pursuit of happiness” and determine is pleasure should replace happiness.
The Declaration of Independence refers to the “pursuit of happiness” as the motivation to inspire all citizens to always move forward in life. This can include furthering education, to advance career opportunities, and investing in property. All of these activities can be viewed as pleasurable, but each involve work, which would not be completed if people were only seeking pleasure. People who live planned lives tend to be happy, because they tend to complete life’s tasks in a specific order which includes completing at least a Bachelor’s degree education, a establishing a stable career, purchase a home, get married, have children, and then retire. The problem is those individuals who are seeking pleasure tend to make mistakes along their life’s path which stops them from fulfilling the ideal life path.
Some people focus more on the pleasurable aspects of life, which usually leads to people who take legal or illegal drugs, binge drink alcohol, obsessive shopping and gambling. Just because people who engage in these behaviors are happy in the moment, does not mean they will be happy the following day when they are regretting their careless actions from the previous day. It is easy to say anyone who is engaged in a pleasure activity is happy, but it does not seem the word happy does not always involve pleasure.
In conclusion, it has been argued people who seek pleasure over happiness tend to be people who enjoy maintaining a “high”, which can come from any number of negative activities. The point is, it is more important to have the American population seeking happiness, instead of pleasure, because it seems this is what has happened in this country. Big business took over because too many Americans were too happy to engage in the pleasurable activities which has derailed the productivity and effectiveness of the American government and its society as a whole.
Works Cited
Muha, T. "Achieving Happiness: Pursuit of pleasure won't guarantee you happiness." Capital 20 January 2008: E3.
