Grice's Idea of Happiness

The English Oxford philosopher H P Grice (if anyone has heard of him. :))
had a pretty simple idea of happiness, which he lectured on for you to share:






This neo-Aristotelian theory of happiness, which can be in
part glimpsed in the festchrift contribution by R. A. Warner, 'Grice on Happiness'
in P.G.R.I.C.E.: Philosophical Grounds of Rationality: Intentions,
Categories, Ends (ed. R. E. Grandy & R. A. Warner. Oxford: Clarendon) -
relies on Grice's own "Reflections on Happiness," The fifth of the
John Locke Memorial Philosophical Lecture on Aspects of Reason
and Reasoning, Oxford.

Grice is aiming at a conceptual analysis, rather than etymological.Some of Grice's conditions apply to the elucidation then of a simple utterance like

Paul is happy.

In Grice/Warner's view, the utterance should meet 5 necessary/sufficient
conditions:

I. Paul is happy if he satisfies enough of his ends
(desires, goals).

II. He is happy only if he BELIEVES he is (in the process
of) satisfying enough of his ends.

IIa. He is happy only if he believes he is (in the
process of) satisfying enough of his ends, such that there is some
PARTICULAR collection of ends such that he believes that in
satisfying the ends in that collection, he is satisfying enough of
his ends.

IIb. He is happy only if he believes he is (in the
process) of satisfying enough of his ends, such that he
believes there is SOME COLLECTION OR OTHER such that in satisfying the ends
in that collection is he satisfying enough of his ends.

III. He is happy only if he not only satisfies enough of his ends BUT ALSO ENJOYS the experiences and activities that satisfy those
ends.

IV. He is happy, i.e. is leading a happy life, only if his life
is - and is seen by him as being - worthwhile.

Grice's then sees "happiness" is a special "set or system of ends suitable
for the direction of life", which has to be "stable" (The swallow argument
pointed out by the Greek Grice, Aristotle).

As Warner notes, there is a distinctly Aristotelian echo in Grice's emphasis on stability as an essential component of happiness".

Grice goes on to offer in that fifth
lecture 7 essential features for what he considers a stable "set of system
of ends" that may constitute Paul's happiness.

FEATURE ONE ==== FEASIBILITY.
The system of ends adopted by Paul should be workable.

FEATURE 2. ----- AUTOMONY.
The less reliant Paul's system of ends is on ends the ability of which is
not within his control the more securely stable it will in general be.

FEATURE 3. ---- COMPATIBILITY OF COMPONENT ENDS.
"We may reasonably look for a harmony of ends; the possibility, that is,
with respect to competing ends, of finding an acceptable balance in the degrees of realisation to be expected for each end." (Grice).

FEATURE 4 ----- COMPREHENSIVENESS.
This concerns the set's capacity to yield answers to those practical
questions which should be decided in the light of general principles.

FEATURE 5 ----- SUPPORTIVENESS OF COMPONENT ENDS.
The stability of Paul's system will be increased if the pursuit of some
ends enhances the pursuit of others.

FEATURE 6 ----- SIMPLICITY
This is the system's dependence on how easy it it to determine its
deliverances on particular questions.

FEATURE 7 ---- AGREEABLENESS
A system the operation of which is specially agreeable would be stable vis
a vis rival systems.

Grice suggests that, ultimately, a condition is needed that "will
differentiate ends of systems of ends in respect of value" - and that is
why the idea of happiness is such a "focal point" in Grice's work on
moral psychology - and he Grice adds:

"Here I would seek to explore a road
not entirely different from that taken by Aristotle. I would consider the
possibility that the idea of happiness in general might be determined by
reference to the ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS of a human being (rational
animal)".

This suggestion, R Warner notes, occurs at the end of that fifth
lecture, but Grice does not indicate how to "differentiate ends or systems
of ends in respect of value" (He gives further glimpses in his "Reflections
on Morals"). The work has been transferred in part to the neo-Griceans,
among whose is indeed R Warner, indeed one of Grice's literary executors,
who's done some further original work on the topic.

So, don't worry -- be Gricean.