Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness
<p dir="ltr">This paper advances two interrelated theses. As for the first thesis, it distinguishes well-being, on the one hand, from happiness, on the other hand. As for the second thesis, it differentiates between two important facets of happiness: what this paper calls “happiness-...
محفوظ في:
| المؤلف الرئيسي: | |
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| منشور في: |
2025
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| الموضوعات: | |
| الوسوم: |
إضافة وسم
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| _version_ | 1864513545976152064 |
|---|---|
| author | Elias L. Khalil (20518877) |
| author_facet | Elias L. Khalil (20518877) |
| author_role | author |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv | Elias L. Khalil (20518877) |
| dc.date.none.fl_str_mv | 2025-06-26T00:00:00Z |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv | 10.3390/philosophies10040075 |
| dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv | https://figshare.com/articles/peer_review/Faust_and_Job_The_Dual_Facets_of_Happiness/29412245 |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv | CC BY 4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv | Economics Applied economics Human society Sociology Language, communication and culture Literary studies Philosophy and religious studies Applied ethics Philosophy Psychology Social and personality psychology Happiness-as-aspiration Happiness-as-tranquility income-wellbeing-happiness nexus Easterlin paradox (income–happiness paradox) intrinsic motivation set-point theory relative income hypothesis just-world hypothesis misery bitterness envy contra jealousy |
| dc.title.none.fl_str_mv | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv | Text Peer review info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion text |
| description | <p dir="ltr">This paper advances two interrelated theses. As for the first thesis, it distinguishes well-being, on the one hand, from happiness, on the other hand. As for the second thesis, it differentiates between two important facets of happiness: what this paper calls “happiness-as-tranquility” and “happiness-as-aspiration”. Actually, in order to differentiate the two facets of happiness, we first need to distinguish happiness from well-being. This is the case because happiness, after all, is a by-product of reflecting upon and ruminating over well-being. Given it is the same well-being, how could it give rise to different facets of happiness? It can only do so if we stop conflating happiness with well-being. This entails taking to task the widely accepted concept of “subjective wellbeing”. Such concept is expressly designed to obfuscate the difference between well-being and happiness. As for the two facets of happiness (the second thesis), this paper relies upon the contrast of two famous works of literature: the story of Job and the story of Faust. The contrast uncovers the criticality of the temporal dimension in the acts of reflection upon and rumination over well-being. If people reflect on past accomplishments, they experience backward-looking happiness along the Job story—i.e., happiness-as-tranquility. If people reflect on desire, they experience forward-looking happiness along the Faust story—i.e., happiness-as-aspiration. While the two facets of happiness seem contradictory, they are indeed complementary if we recognize the temporal element when one reflects upon and ruminates over well-being.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Philosophies<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/10/4/75" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/10/4/75</a></p> |
| eu_rights_str_mv | openAccess |
| id | Manara2_6998d0fc9f48b9d768b3d790ef02eef1 |
| identifier_str_mv | 10.3390/philosophies10040075 |
| network_acronym_str | Manara2 |
| network_name_str | Manara2 |
| oai_identifier_str | oai:figshare.com:article/29412245 |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| repository.mail.fl_str_mv | |
| repository.name.fl_str_mv | |
| repository_id_str | |
| rights_invalid_str_mv | CC BY 4.0 |
| spelling | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of HappinessElias L. Khalil (20518877)EconomicsApplied economicsHuman societySociologyLanguage, communication and cultureLiterary studiesPhilosophy and religious studiesApplied ethicsPhilosophyPsychologySocial and personality psychologyHappiness-as-aspirationHappiness-as-tranquilityincome-wellbeing-happiness nexusEasterlin paradox (income–happiness paradox)intrinsic motivationset-point theoryrelative income hypothesisjust-world hypothesismiserybitternessenvy contra jealousy<p dir="ltr">This paper advances two interrelated theses. As for the first thesis, it distinguishes well-being, on the one hand, from happiness, on the other hand. As for the second thesis, it differentiates between two important facets of happiness: what this paper calls “happiness-as-tranquility” and “happiness-as-aspiration”. Actually, in order to differentiate the two facets of happiness, we first need to distinguish happiness from well-being. This is the case because happiness, after all, is a by-product of reflecting upon and ruminating over well-being. Given it is the same well-being, how could it give rise to different facets of happiness? It can only do so if we stop conflating happiness with well-being. This entails taking to task the widely accepted concept of “subjective wellbeing”. Such concept is expressly designed to obfuscate the difference between well-being and happiness. As for the two facets of happiness (the second thesis), this paper relies upon the contrast of two famous works of literature: the story of Job and the story of Faust. The contrast uncovers the criticality of the temporal dimension in the acts of reflection upon and rumination over well-being. If people reflect on past accomplishments, they experience backward-looking happiness along the Job story—i.e., happiness-as-tranquility. If people reflect on desire, they experience forward-looking happiness along the Faust story—i.e., happiness-as-aspiration. While the two facets of happiness seem contradictory, they are indeed complementary if we recognize the temporal element when one reflects upon and ruminates over well-being.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Philosophies<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/10/4/75" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/10/4/75</a></p>2025-06-26T00:00:00ZTextPeer reviewinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontext10.3390/philosophies10040075https://figshare.com/articles/peer_review/Faust_and_Job_The_Dual_Facets_of_Happiness/29412245CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/294122452025-06-26T00:00:00Z |
| spellingShingle | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness Elias L. Khalil (20518877) Economics Applied economics Human society Sociology Language, communication and culture Literary studies Philosophy and religious studies Applied ethics Philosophy Psychology Social and personality psychology Happiness-as-aspiration Happiness-as-tranquility income-wellbeing-happiness nexus Easterlin paradox (income–happiness paradox) intrinsic motivation set-point theory relative income hypothesis just-world hypothesis misery bitterness envy contra jealousy |
| status_str | publishedVersion |
| title | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness |
| title_full | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness |
| title_fullStr | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness |
| title_short | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness |
| title_sort | Faust and Job: The Dual Facets of Happiness |
| topic | Economics Applied economics Human society Sociology Language, communication and culture Literary studies Philosophy and religious studies Applied ethics Philosophy Psychology Social and personality psychology Happiness-as-aspiration Happiness-as-tranquility income-wellbeing-happiness nexus Easterlin paradox (income–happiness paradox) intrinsic motivation set-point theory relative income hypothesis just-world hypothesis misery bitterness envy contra jealousy |