Part I Happiness as the Aim of Life
I. Is a Guide to Happiness Possible? And if Possible, is it Desirable?
Objections to the Pursuit of Happiness as a Low and Selfish Aim.—Answered by the Fact that we Cannot do Otherwise than Pursue it.—Enjoyment is not a Sin, but a Duty.—No One Can Impart Happiness who does not Possess it Himself.—It is Desirable, therefore, that Men be Taught How to become Happy.—Nor is this a Commendation of Selfishness, pp. 9-14
II. The Definition of Happiness.
Happiness is not Pleasure, but is Built Upon it.—Explanation of Pleasure and Pain in Sensation.—Happiness Dependent on the Will and Self-consciousness.—Difference Between Self-feeling and Self-seeking.—Happiness is the Increasing Consciousness of Self.—It may be Derived from Other than Pleasurable Feelings.—The Yearning for Joy is a Cry of Nature.—It is the Secret of Evolution, pp. 15-20
III. The Relative Value of Pleasures.
All Pleasures are Inseparably Connected.—The Error of Religions and Philosophies which Condemn Any.—Escape from Pain the Lowest Form of Pleasure.—Indifference to Pleasure a Sign of Mental Failing.—Contentment is not Happiness.—Happiness means Expansion and Growth.—Practical Difficulty in Comparing Pleasures.—The Hierarchy of Enjoyments.—The Blunders of Asceticism.—The Equality of Pleasures, as Such, pp. 21-25
IV. The Distribution of Happiness.
Relation of Happiness to the Means of Happiness.—Law of the “Rate of Pleasure.”—The Extremes of the Social Order Equally Unfavorable.—Civilization does not Increase Personal Enjoyment.—Social Evils Diminish, but Personal Sufferings Increase.—The Motive of the True Civilization.—Women Have Less Happiness than Men.—Partly through their Physical Nature, Partly through Social Impositions.—Pernicious, Legal and Ecclesiastical Restrictions.—The True and False Education of Women.—Man will Profit by Woman’s Improvement.—Childhood and Youth not the Happiest Periods of Life.—Enjoyment Should Increase with Mental and Physical Vigor.—Old Age is not the Period of Wisdom.—Spurious Enjoyments of the Aged.
pp. 26-35
V. Principles of a Self-Education for the Promotion of One’s Own Happiness.
Happiness is the Reward of Effort.—The Greatest Efficiency is not the Greatest Happiness.—The Principles of a Self-Education:—I. The Multiplication of the Sources of Enjoyment—What these Sources Are—The Avoidance of Profitless Pain—The Value of Knowledge—The True End of Culture—Falsity of “Contentment with Little.”—The Kind of Knowledge Required:—1. Of Our Bodily Constitution—2. Of the Elements of the Sciences—3. Of the Nature of the Mind—4. Of the Principles of Business—5. Of the Value of Evidence.—II. The Maintenance of a Sensibility to Pleasure.—The Criteria of Pleasurable Sensations.—The Anatomy of Ennui.—III. The Search for Variety of Impressions.—Variety Necessary to High Pleasure.—Pleasure must be Remitted.—The Individual should Seek Novelty.—The Evil Effects of Habit.—IV. The Proper Proportion Between Desire and Pleasure.—The Wisdom of Counting the Cost.—Precepts for the Regulation of Desire.—V. Make all Pleasures a Part of Happiness.—All Pleasures are Excellent.—Error of the Contrary Doctrine.—All Pleasures should be Brought into Relation.—The Bond of Sense to what is Beyond Sense.—The Reality of the Ideal.
Strowingspp. 36-56