Submit-A-File: What Is Happiness? How Do You Find It?

Stress, Urban Dread, and the Hellenistic Period
A Fun Think-Piece Rooted in Historical Knowledge


What should we seek in this life? 

Many say happiness. 

But that answer only gets us into the start of our search. As Socrates said (a bit too often perhaps for his own good) -- "Define your terms!" If Happiness is the goal of life -- how easy it is to type that! -- what does Happiness mean?

For unless you can define the term, it means nothing. Or everything. 

As you learned this week, Hellenistic peoples lived in perhaps the first truly urbanized mass society. We are the children of that society, here, in Los Angeles.

The cities were vast, life was short and often grubby, slavery abounded, and the power to change things was remote -- in the hands of godlike rulers who seldom glanced at the urban nightmare that appeared outside their palaces.
Happiness seemed an impossibility. But small, highly educated groups formed -- philosophers -- and they asked a very modern and persistent question about just that: happiness. And as you've discovered, they came up with several different answers.

For this 15-point think-piece assignment, please show us your knowledge of the different Hellenistic belief-systems that our textbook examines. But go beyond the textbook. 

The Task:

For this Activity, please answer these questions:

1. In what ways did these new philosophies speak to Hellenistic peoples? What made them attractive to some in this period?

2. What is happiness to you? Be specific. Give examples

3. How would you reply to the Hellenistic philosophers and their ideas about happiness?

In answering this question, know that there is no one correct answer. Your opinion is requested, but an opinion that is founded on the material we've read this week about the Hellenistic philosophies (therapies?) -- on Stoicism, Skepticism, Cynicism, and Epicureanism.

Please submit your answer to these questions in a file. Make sure that file is either a pdf, doc, or docx file. When you're ready to upload it, click on the "Submit Assignment" button on the upper right of this page and follow the directions. 

This assignment is worth 15 points. Please note the deadline for it at the top of the assignment. 

I will grade you on your knowledge of the assigned material for this week and in week's past. Also, I will grade you on how seriously you enter into the main question and how thoughtfully, probingly you answer it. 

Aim high!