We all seek only one thing in our lives: to be happy! And this happiness is different for each person. For some, to be happy is to have a lot of purchasing power and be able to buy whatever they want, such as big cars, mansions, among other material things. For others, it is to have fame, to be a person known by all (which is represented in the high level of social exposure). And so society postThe modern 21st century becomes more and more liquid, where everything depends on the approval of society and the admiration of others.

With this, it is always captivating to understand how ancient people conceived happiness, especially the ancient philosophers of the Greek world, such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, who are the patriarchs of Western philosophy.

Photo by Alex Grek on Pexels

Socrates is known as the Father of Philosophy, is the most famous name in humanities schools, and possibly everyone has heard of him or his famous quote: "I only know that I know nothing" The phrase defines Socrates' concept of happiness when, recognizing that he knows nothing, he sets out in search of knowledge, setting out on the path of knowledge to understand things, to comprehend something new, to learn about everything. This is how Socrates constructs the path to happiness, because only by seeking knowledge can he find the virtue of knowing. This is the happy man, the manSocrates understands that the happy man is the man who knows himself, the man who possesses self-knowledge.

Plato, Socrates' most faithful disciple (who has provided us with all the knowledge about Socrates, since only in his works is it possible to observe Socratic teachings), understands that happiness is the main quest of every human being; but unlike Socrates, Plato lists happiness as the practice of the ethical Good, where actions promote effects that provide the Good. The GoodFor Plato it is conceived as the main goal of all human action, because it is the principle of justice and truth. In Plato we find the thought of reward in practicing the Good, because only by practicing the virtues of the soul (Plato understands that man has an existential duality, where he is the bearer of body and soul; the body is earthly and provides man with earthly pleasures and the soul isimmortal, where it is interconnected with the World of Ideas - World of Truth and Good), it can return to its home, that is, the World of Ideas, so to practice the virtues of the soul is to promote human happiness, while your soul approaches the Eternal Good.

For the philosopher, happiness consists in perfecting the practice of mediocrity, that is, to have actions that promote ethics, which is to act in a fair measure between two extremes, for example: to have courage is to act in a median measure, between acting fearfully and acting cowardly. Aristotle teaches that the happy man isone who promotes ethical actions in all his choices and who manages to act in the best possible way (given the median of choices) in all everyday situations, not giving in to vices, which are the extremes of lack or excess.

You may also like

• What is love like in the world of ostentation? Read on to find out!
• Philosophy: It is in everything in our lives. Understand how and where.
• Why don't modern relationships work out?

We notice that the conceptions of the ancient philosophers differ greatly from the conceptions of happiness in the contemporary world, where the happy person is the one who can buy things, or the one who appears more often on the TV screen, smartphones and computers of others; where the happy person is the one with the credit card in hand, the one who consumes and thus becomes part of globalization. For the philosophersAncient happiness is something that cannot be bought, for it is self-knowledge, it is acting according to the Good and Eternal Justice, or acting ethically in a measure, in all human actions.