“Happiness is the settling of the soul into its most appropriate spot.” - Aristotle
According to Saif Farooqi, PhD, University of Delhi psychology professor, writer, blogger, historian and advocate, the true root of PosPsy is philosophical. The main focus has been the study of well-being as examined from two perspectives that are based on two very different philosophies – hedonism and eudaimonism:
"Hedonism is the philosophy that suggests that human behavior is determined by increasing pleasure and decreasing pain. According to hedonism, pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life. The hedonistic philosophy can be traced back to Aristippus, the 4th century BCE Greek philosopher. Aristippus believed that the greatest human value is pleasure and pain is the lowest, which should be avoided. He believed that the pursuit of life should be enjoyment and pleasure."
On the contrary, Dr. Farooqi continued:
"The founder of eudaimonia is the Greek philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle heavily criticized hedonism. He suggested that hedonism makes individuals become slaves to their desires. According to him, instead of seeking pleasure, the essential aspect of a good life is the realization of one’s true potential."
According to Dr. Farooqi, psychologists conceive of happiness in two different ways: hedonic happiness (pleasure and enjoyment) and eudaimonic happiness (meaning and purpose). He notes that in his experience, some psychologists champion either a hedonic or a eudaimonic idea of happiness, but most seem to agree that people require both hedonia and eudaimonia to flourish. Whether hedonic or eudaimonic in nature, mental well-being is a work in progress. We do not have to succumb to a broken emotional state, but can piece it back together to reinvent ourselves and rekindle the beauty in our brokenness. Positive Psychology interventions (PPI’s) are an effective humanistic approach to this type of therapy.
According to an article published in the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, research shows that PPI’s as constructive therapies are an optimistic shift from the traditional focus on what is wrong. The article describes the effectiveness of PPI’s:
Positive Psychology interventions (PPIs), which incorporate principles based on personal strengths, are aligned with the view that mental health recovery transcends symptom relief to include experiencing positive emotions, satisfaction, and purpose, thus promoting well-being. PPIs may also be applied to strengthen personal and social relationships; many include exercises such as the active-constructivist response, which aims to improve well-being within individual relationships in contexts of listening to positive news communicated by others. A strategy that promotes positive affect and facilitates the use of positive interpersonal skills may plausibly improve the quality of relationships. (432)
Independent Practice:
Choose a standout moment in time where you were engaged in conversation with someone, or where you observed others conversing. For example, an interview, a class discussion, party banter, or a third-person perspective of someone else’s conversation that profoundly affected you. Write about this conversation for 15 to 20 minutes.
Revisit it and add to it daily for four consecutive days.
Write continuously each day without stopping, with no editing or spelling corrections.
Be honest, as no one else will read your journal entry.
Accept that you may feel uncomfortable with the content in hindsight.
On day five, observe the evolution of writing and note how it changed from day to day.
Recommended Reading:
Five Historic Philosophers Discuss Human Flourishing and Happiness in Positive Psychology: A Speculative Dialogue in Three Acts by Liz Gulliford and Kristjan Kristjansson.
The authors creatively show the insight of five great minds on nature of human fulfillment. They survey contentment through Positive Psychology using a fictitious dialogue based on the philosophies of the following: Aristotle: Ancient Greek philosopher, 384–322 BCE, Chrysippus: Greek Stoic philosopher, 279 –206 BCE, Jeremy Bentham: British utilitarian philosopher, 1748–1832, Søren Kierkegaard: Danish existentialist philosopher and theologian, 1813–1855, and Pierre Bourdieu: French social theorist, 1930–2002.
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