Hello Fellow Hedonists,
According to a new study in the journal Science, spending money on others promotes your happiness. People who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not, regardless of income level. Professor Stephen Joseph, of the University of Nottingham, said: "Most of the research in the past has said money isn't that important in terms of happiness. The things that are important are things to do with relationships, with other people, and things that help to promote meaning, the purpose in life. I think that's what this study speaks to."
Professor Joseph goes on to say "being prescriptive about how people spend their money, even if it is for seemingly worthwhile causes, is a very dangerous path to go down. Research like this describes society - it doesn't tell us what society ought to be." This claim is obviously false. The study, of course, doesn't show us that we should be happy. However, this claim is prescriptive, in a sense, for those of us who want to be happy but don't know how, isn't it?
Professor Ruut Veenhoven, of Erasmus University, said "this may come as a surprise for economists who have learned that humans are essentially egoists." He might be right, but this study doesn't show that psychological egoism is false. After all, even he acknowledges that "people don't know what really makes them happy." So, it might be the case that people are, as a matter of fact, psychological egoists, or hedonists for that matter, they just don't realize what will make them happy. This study might show that ruthless egoists and misanthropic hedonists are simply ignorant!
Excelsior!
C.L.Sosis
Comments