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Nikola Sofman

Professor Ditch

English 115

8 December 2020
What Is Happiness To You?

Many people have their own definition of happiness whether it be the fulfillment you get

from helping others or eating your favorite snack. After being presented with three different

articles, only one presented the strongest argument of them all, regarding happiness on where it

comes from or how to achieve it. ​The Source of Happiness ​uses all three rhetorical strategies,

ethos, logos, and pathos, constructively​ to prove that the true source of happiness within an

individual is gained through the right decisions in order to help others seek their own happiness

by means of using both Buddhist spiritual practices and Western psychology, with the help of the

Dalai Lama and his discourse with human connection alongside Cutler’s affirmation of

emotional reasoning.

The Source of Happiness b​ y the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler presents the most

effective argument particularly would be that instead of individuals indulging in activities that’ll

give themselves momentary pleasures, they should strive towards making decisions that’ll bring

them deep-rooted happiness​. Cutler interviews the Dalai Lama which in turn helps build his

argument because, The Dalai Lama already has credibility due to him being a world advocate for

individual happiness, “‘ There are many levels in Buddhism, for instance, there is reference to

the four factors of fulfillment, or happiness: wealth, worldly satisfaction, spirituality and

enlightenment. Together they embrace the totality of an individual’s quest for happiness’”(Lama
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and Cutler 24). The Dalai Lama uses his experience as a living monk and his expertise in

Buddhism to give him a sense of nobility in order to answer all of Hills’ questions reasonabl​y.

The Dalai Lama then mentions his suffering of being exiled from Tibet to emphasize his

connection to the human community and how people treated him after he lost his country,

conveying the emotional aspect of their argumen​t, “‘...there was a certain degree of respect given

to the office of the Dalai Lama...But if that was the only basis of people’s relations towards me,

then when I lost my country, it would have been extremely difficult...But there is another source

of worth and dignity from which you can relate to other fellow human beings...You can relate to

them because you are still a human being, within the human community. You share that

bond’”(Lama and Cutler 28)​. The Dalai Lama had lost his homeland to the Chinese army,

leaving him with less political power however, people understood his position regardless and

empathized with his situation in which he asserts is because we are all human beings no matter

what.​ Moreover, Cutler points out the differences between happiness and pleasure, and what it

takes to be able to pick the right choice, presenting the logical element of their argument “Every

day we are faced with numerous decisions and choices. And try as we may, we often don’t

choose the thing that we know is ‘good for us’. Part of this is related to the fact that the ‘right

choice’ is often the difficult one​‒the one that involves some sacrifice for our pleasure” (Lama

and Cutler 31). Cutler points out that we as humans tend to pick choices that bring us brief

happiness and claim they’re ‘good for us’, in reality it is actually the choices that bring us

displeasure which are the right ones all along, providing us with some interpretation of the

human condition. ​Throughout the entire essay, Howard Cutler and The Dalai Lama execute their
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argument by providing evidence and applying the rhetorical devices necessary to be able to be

the most compelling, expressing the ideology that the right choices aren’t always the best.

How Happy Are You and Why ​by Sonja Lyubomirsky argues that every person is born

with a specific set point for happiness whether it be low or high, however the way you behave

everyday can influence your lasting happiness yet, using only one rhetorical strategy more than

the rest​. Lyubomirsky begins by describing three unique subjects with different upbringings then

later on stating that it doesn’t matter how or where you grew up, exhibiting an emotional appeal

for her argument, “Happiness, more than anything, is a state of mind, a way of perceiving and

approaching ourselves and the world in which you reside in'' (Lyubomirsky 185). Lyubomirksy

claims that happiness is what you perceive it to be and how you apply that to yourself and your

circumstances. However, soon after Lyubomirsky introduces the scale she created, The

Subjective Happiness Scale, which is how she describes to be able to ultimately measure your

happiness set point, the logics of her findings, “No matter whether you are deeply depressed or

are simply not as happy as you’d like to be, before you can begin the process of becoming

happier, you need to determine your present personal happiness level, which will provide your

first estimate of your happiness set point” (Lyubomirsky 182)​. This is what conflicts with her

argument because she asserts the idea that each individual has a set point for happiness yet you

can be happier regardless which in itself is confusing​. The rest of her article is presented with a

substantial amount of logos, lacking in the other devices, which is what makes her argument not

as effective compared to Cutler and The Dalai Lamas’.

Living With Less. A Lot Less​ by Graham Hill argues that living with and owning less

materialistic things might really mean having a fuller life, using only two rhetorical strategies to
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fully support his argument. Hill discusses his rise and fall from the internet boom of the 2000s

and the success he gained after selling his Internet consultancy company, providing him with

credibility, “It started in Seattle, when my partner and I sold our Internet consultancy company,

Sitewerks, for more money than I’d thought I’d earn in a lifetime” (Hill 308)​. Hill establishes his

experiences within his field to have the reader comprehend how he was able to become so

abundant in fortune.​ Even though Hill was able to buy and own everything he wanted and

desired, he wasn’t as happy as he thought he would be in order to highlight that being rich

doesn’t mean you can buy happiness and that it takes time to figure out what things are essential

to your living, using data to represent the daily events that occur in his life, “My apartment

sleeps four people comfortably; I frequently have dinner parties for 12. My space is well built,

affordable and as functional as living spaces twice the size... I have less‒I enjoy more” (Hill

312). Hill evaluates his current living situation into numbers to create the visualization of what it

was like when he had more things compared to now. Hill utilizes ethos and logos majorly in his

article, having been a journalist, entrepreneur, and designer with a degree in architecture as well

as displaying a vast amount of data to analyze how Americans are taking up more space than

they used too​. This makes Hill’s argument not as effective because not all rhetorical devices are

utilized to help support it

The three articles, ​The Source of Happiness,​ ​How Happy Are You and Why, ​and ​Living

With Less. A Lot Less, ​all make use of the three rhetorical devices, some more or less than others.

The Source of Happiness,​ in particular, was the one that displayed the strongest argument seeing

as that it provided examples that exhibited all devices in support towards their claim that

individuals should pick their choices wisely and strive towards gaining long lasting happiness.
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Works Cited

Lama, Dalai and Cutler, Howard. “​The Source of Happiness.”​ Pursuing Happiness,

Second Edition, A Bedford Spotlight Reader, 2020, Boston, MA. Accessed 22

September 2020.

Lyubomirsky, Sonja. “​How Happy Are You and Why.”​ Pursuing Happiness, Second

Edition, A Bedford Spotlight Reader, 2020, Boston, MA. Accessed 22 September

2020.

Hill, Graham. “​Living with Less. A Lot Less.”​ Pursuing Happiness, Second Edition, A

Bedford Spotlight Reader, 2020, Boston, MA. Accessed 22 September 2020.