Is Happiness the Meaning of Life?

Agnostics are people who are generally undecided on what they believe in. Or at least, they are people who would not say they have committed themselves to one of the major world beliefs. In western culture this indecision seems to result in them inventing their own belief system, but in a vague kind of way.

One of the most common things I hear agnostics say or imply, if they are ever talking about belief, is that life is all about happiness. This may be dressed in phrases like "follow your heart" or "be true to yourself". The core thing that decisions come down to, says this belief, is that I should be happy.

Unfortunately, there are issues with this belief.



It's All About Me

Whatever name you give it, this belief can be summarised as "be selfish." The belief is all about what I want, what I like, what I want to happen. It only gives any consideration to others if I want to give consideration.

Everyone being selfish will not lead to a happy world, so the belief ends up contradicting itself. If everyone in the world tried to live by the philosophy "do what makes you happy," then everyone will be made unhappy by the actions of another person.
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What About The Third World

Our rich and privileged western culture makes it very easy for us to maintain comfort. What about the parts of the world which currently have less peace? Would you be happy to say to a starving child in India "the meaning of life is happiness"? Or would you be able to say the same thing to the face of a war refugee in Zambia?

If happiness is the meaning of life, then many people in the world are born into circumstances with no hope of ever achieving this and their life is effectively pointless. Especially if by "happiness" you mean having material wealth and freedom. Would you say that a person who died in a war wasted their life?

Large and In Charge

The person with this belief is effectively placing themselves as the god of their own lives. They know best. The make their own rules. They are not serving or accountable to any higher power, where possible. They will grudgingly obey the laws of their land, but the belief in selfishness shows itself in the crimes they commit when they think they can get away with it.

Deciding that you are the best person to make all decisions in your life is a dangerous one. How do we know that the desires of a person are always healthy? In fact, we know that that is not always the case. Some people desire to commit murder and other crimes, and we know that those are not good things. So you can start adding limits and small print and to what types or degrees of selfishness are allowed, but by doing so you are admitting that there must be some higher meaning than just happiness, some higher authority which is dictating these limits.

The Alternative

So should we all aim to be miserable instead? No, happiness is still a good thing, we just need to be certain that it is not the best thing. In many cases in life a person will be able to do what they want, but God knows what is really best for each individual. We cannot fully trust our own desires, so it is wise to submit to an authority that we can.