HAPPINESS: THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF HUMAN ACTION

All human activity is driven by the natural human aspiration to achieve happiness. Considered a necessary and sufficient condition for a successful life happiness is an absolute desire an unsurpassable good an ultimate good a perfect end. Happiness can only be this one good sought for its own sake and not in view of any other good. It is in itself the supreme good. Happiness is the sovereign good that needs nothing to be complete for it is entirely self-sufficient and is acquired through the exercise of the activity that best expresses man's essence. Far from being a mirage or an illusion the Sovereign Good to which every human being deeply aspires is the very essence of being human. By his very nature man is imbued with happiness. In fact man's actions can be understood by the deep yearning for happiness that dwells in his heart. Aristotle himself sees the fact that every human being aspires to happiness as an assurance that happiness is not a lofty ideal unattainable by man. In fact the sole purpose of all human action is happiness. In short happiness is not only the goal of all our actions but also the goal of all our actions.