The Relations Between Philosophy and Joy -- How to Use Philosophy to Feel Happy

(Philosocom's Directory on Happiness)

(The Undead Metaphor's Directory: https://www.philosocom.com/post/a-new-type-of-undead-and-my-background-story)

(Philosocom Hedonism Directory)

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Introduction

Joy. The word tastes sweet, a promise of something simple and unburdened. A promise that seems amiss in our world, as we go through our lives concerned about this and that, without really taking satisfaction in what we already have.

We think of it as a rush of warmth, an easy, unearned state of being—a child laughing, a lover’s embrace, the sun on your face.

And then we have philosophy, a word that tastes like ash and old paper, a pursuit that demands isolation, rigor, and the willingness to tear apart every single assumption that brings you comfort.

The two seem like ships passing in the night, never really engaging with one another, like parallel lines. One, a delicate pleasure craft and the other a rust-streaked freighter loaded with the weight of human thought. It's an easy mistake to make, to see philosophy as the antithesis of joy, a joy-killer. After all, philosophy is too complex for most people, you might argue! There is no money in philosophy? What, then, is the worth of philosophy to our time?

What if the opposite were true? What if the gritty, difficult work of philosophy is not the end of joy, but its only honest beginning?

Clearing Misconceptions

The common wisdom is that to think deeply is to suffer. The philosopher is the man who looks behind the curtain and sees the mechanisms and levers, the gears and the mechanical stagehands. He can’t simply enjoy the show because he knows it’s all an illusion. When he knows that, something in him is missing, and he becomes an "undead" of sorts, never truly returning back to his innocent, unquestioning self.

The naive, the unthinking masses, they get to be happy. They get to live in their little bubbles of blissful ignorance, while the philosopher is left with the cold, hard, unvarnished truth, left to endure what he has realized. This is a seductive narrative, a seemingly "grandiose" one for those of us who have chosen the difficult path.

It paints a picture of a trade-off: comfort for wisdom, joy for understanding. Yet, joy could still be found even amidst the sea of realizations that could change you and your ways, to make you more reclusive and not wanting to partake in a world that you may soon realize is based on corruption, injustice and apathy.

And for that, we need to explore the nature of joy.

Joy: Being Versus Rush

True joy, you see, is not just a feeling. It can also be a prolonged state of being. Because while philosophy is the study of truth, the very act of study is one that could leave you happy and satisfied, without the need to leave the solitude of your home. I myself am doing this for my own pleasure, and the fact that I'm doing it, leaves me satisfied and joyous for the long term.

The fleeting, shallow thrills we chase—the new car, the fleeting affection of a stranger, the sugar rush of a well-earned success—these are not joy as a state of being. They are a kind of emotional pornography, a quick, intense hit that leaves you feeling emptier than before.

The world, in its constant quest for your attention, offers a thousand tiny pleasures and calls them joy, while in reality, it does nothing but strip away your money for its illusory fun. It asks you to be a perpetual consumer, an addicted passenger on a roller coaster of highs and lows. Is it truly fun to be an addict? To constantly depend yourself on the tyranny of temporary rushes? What if there is an alternative to when the ride stops? A long term one?

Because without the long term state of joy, what actually happens when the ride stops? What happens when the new car rusts, the lover leaves, and the rush of sugar wears off? You are left with the cold, unyielding silence of your own mind. Indeed, what the consumer world offers is nothing more than an escape from a void you should have the responsibility to take care of by the strength of your own power!

The Role of Philosophy in Making You Happier

This is where philosophy comes in, not as an enemy of joy, but as a surgeon. It takes a scalpel to your beliefs, your desires, your entire self-conception. It asks you to examine the source of your so-called happiness. It forces you to confront the fact that most of what you think you want is simply what the collective has told you to want. not necessarily what you want, deep down.

And as such, you are left to live life without knowing what makes you happy, what makes you satisfied, surviving day by day, waiting for the next rush.

Philosophy is a dismantling act of brutal honesty that can be terrifying, but one that, after its conception, can leave you truly satisfied with what you have. For in this process of deconstruction, you are clearing the ground of the very unquestioned assumptions that keeps you moving in a life that is not necessarily worth living -- which can be defined as a life that doesn't make you truly joyous.

With philosophy, you are breaking down the fragility of the uncaring matrix, the joyless structures of inherited wants, allowing you to start building something more real, something that can make you not simply live life, but desire life as well.

Such satisfaction can only be found once you work on yourself, once you start questioning the life you're living, then shall begin a journey of discovery, whose end can yield a life truly worth living -- a one of lasting joy, that depends itself not on rushes, but on long-term pursuits, which can make you feel like you're doing something truly remarkable; not merely something that brings food to the table, but one that engages with your passions, and makes you feel truly alive.

The joy that emerges from this process is not the fleeting high of the unquestioning consumer. It is the steady, quiet satisfaction of a person that creates his own way, and lives on his own terms. It’s the peace that comes from knowing and discerning, what is truly brings you happiness, and what does not. It is the resilience that comes from confronting the meaninglessness of the universe and deciding, with conscious effort, to carve your own meaning, and thus live a life worth living.

This joy is not a gift from the outside world; it is a fortress you build yourself, brick by philosophical brick. The world can throw its disappointments, its tragedies, its inevitable chaos at you, but the foundation you've laid will not crumble, allowing you to be happy no matter where you are, or what the state of the world is.

This is the hidden contract of the philosophical life: You give up the cheap thrills, the effortless, ignorant bliss of the unexamined life, in exchange for a joy that is more difficult to acquire but impossible to lose! It’s the joy of the man or woman who knows why they believe what they believe, and stands firm on that, with the power gained by the knowledge that allowed them to carve their own happiness in the world.

It’s the satisfaction of the woman who has built her character not on the shifting sands of popular opinion, but on the bedrock of her own reason. It is the quiet, unbreakable contentment of living a life that is truly, deeply your own; not a life meant for an uncaring society.

Conclusion

So, don't be fooled by the laughter of those who haven’t looked. Their joy is as fragile as a soap bubble. Once their rush is taken away from them, they would be left miserable. They are running from the very thing that could give them true peace, because true, inner peace is gained by the hard work of philosophy.

The relationship, then, between philosophy and joy is not one of opposition; it is one of alchemy. It is that of cause and effect, of synergy. Philosophy is the very journey in which long term happiness can be found at its end. It is a journey not offered by any caterer, but by one that requires you to be a truth seeker.

Philosophy takes the base metal of human confusion and fear and, with time, discipline, and a little brutal honesty, transmutes it into the only joy that is worth having: the joy of the conscious, self-made soul.