Happiness: The Case Against Character By Appiah

Happiness is achieved through having purpose in life. The happiest people see their goals they set as reachable and a sense of purpose, while people who are cynical have no sense of purpose in their life or perceive themselves as unable to reach the goals they have set for themselves. While some cultures are better than others at encouraging people to follow their dreams, it is ultimately the responsibility of the individual to find and achieve their purpose in life.
Published in December of 2009, a longitudinal study from UC Riverside on tested three hypotheses on the subject of happiness. The first hypothesis was ‘Becoming happier takes both a will and proper way’, the second and third hypotheses had to do with ‘maintained effects on

However there is much more vices than virtues, of which Appiah points out directly (402 par. 5) in his essay, “The case against character”. Appiah also brings up a different view, the situationist view that questions if virtue is in the act or character as many people are not predisposed to act in the Greek sense of virtue, as “if we were fully virtuous, we would find ourselves disposed to think and act and feel the right things. But we are not.” (Appiah 409). The situationist view instead posits that most people who do a virtuous act do so as a result of situational factors and not out of an intrinsic desire to be altruistic or helpful. Indeed, there was a study related to goals in life where the participants were teens from Norway where one of the reasons the teens weren’t predisposed to charity was because they “cannot see the happy faces” (Gabrielson et al. 1058) of the people who benefitted. Yet does the same apply to a longer term meaning of happiness that inclines towards purpose in life? For the proponents of Situationism concern themselves with situations, however if someone is determined enough and constantly venturing as recommended by Sheldon et al.’s study the situations conducive to virtuous acts should balance out overall with the situations that are toxic to virtuous acts even if there is backfire. Situations change, objectives and goals in life however, do not. Situationism only applies to individual circumstances unlike the overarching desire to push towards a purpose in life be it a religion-based purpose, a achievement based purpose or a relationship based one. And ultimately, the good situations will outweigh the bad as long as one’s outlook in life consists of never giving up. For never giving up is the backbone of