Two Types of Happiness

This essay explores two types of happiness: hedonic happiness, and eudaimonic happiness.

Hedonic happiness comes from the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, whereas eudaimonic happiness comes from the pursuit of authenticity, meaning, virtue and growth. In short, hedonia comes from doing what feels good, and eudaemonia comes from doing what feels right.

– Econation ¹

Before going further, it seems useful to learn how to pronounce the words hedonic and eudaimonic. Here is how to pronounce the word hedonic. Here is how to pronounce the word eudaimonic.

Hedonic happiness emphasizes pleasures of the body and the senses. The body and the senses are capable of giving rise to an enormous variety of pleasures. A few examples of bodily pleasures include sitting in comfortably warm water, holding hands, hugging, receiving a massage, and sex. A few examples of sensory pleasures include listening to a favorite song, eating a delicious meal, or gazing at a beautiful or interesting work of art. Every person has their own favorite bodily and sensory pleasures.

People throughout history have written about seeking happiness through hedonistic pleasures.

Aristippus, a Greek philosopher from the fourth century B.C., taught that the goal of life is to experience the maximum amount of pleasure, and that happiness is the totality of one’s hedonic moments. His early philosophical hedonism has been followed by many others. Hobbes argued that happiness lies in the successful pursuit of our human appetites, and DeSade believed that pursuit of sensation and pleasure is the ultimate goal of life. Utilitarian philosophers such as Bentham argued that it is through individuals’ attempting to maximize pleasure and self-interest that the good society is built. Hedonism, as a view of well-being, has thus been expressed in many forms and has varied from a relatively narrow focus on bodily pleasures to a broad focus on appetites and self-interests.

– Richard Ryan and Edward Deci ²

Hedonistic pleasures can bring happiness to people’s lives. However, moderation of hedonistic pleasures is the key to lasting hedonic happiness. Engaging in hedonistic pleasures too often can dull the senses and potentially harm the body through exhaustion or poor health. Over–indulgence makes pleasurable activities seem less enjoyable and less satisfying. Moderation of pleasurable activities is essential for sustainable hedonic happiness.

Another risk of hedonic happiness is selfishness. Hedonic happiness achieved at the expense of other people’s happiness or well-being is unethical. All people equally deserve to avoid suffering and to experience happiness. All people equally deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Thus, when seeking hedonic happiness, I do my best to care for the people around me and ensure their happiness as well as my own.

Eudaimonic happiness does not refer to feelings of pleasure or a positive state of mind. Eudaimonic happiness refers to a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment from engaging in activities that help people realize their individual potentials.

Eudaimonism is an ethical theory that calls people to recognize and to live in accordance with the daimon or “true self.” The theory extends at least as far back as classical Hellenic philosophy, where it received its most notable treatment in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. The daimon refers to those potentialities of each person, the realization of which represents the greatest fulfillment in living of which each is capable. These include both the potentialities that are shared by all humans by virtue of our common specieshood and those unique potentials that distinguish each individual from all others. The daimon is an ideal in the sense of being an excellence, a perfection toward which one strives and, hence, it can give meaning and direction to one’s life.

– Alan Waterman ³

Living well entails actively and explicitly striving for what is truly worthwhile and is of inherent or intrinsic human worth, and it contrasts with the pursuit of crass endeavors such as materialism or pleasure seeking that pull one away from virtues. Eudaimonia is characterized by reflectiveness and reason. Finally, eudaimonic pursuits are voluntary, and are expressions of the self rather than products of external control or ignorance. Together, Aristotle’s eudaimonia is thus characterized as living well, and entails being actively engaged in excellent activity, reflectively making decisions, and behaving voluntarily toward ends that represent the realization of our highest human natures.

– Richard Ryan, Veronika Huta,
and Edward Deci ⁴

Eudaimonic happiness is embedded in my spiritual humanism. My spiritual commitment to cultivate personal qualities and values that help me reduce suffering and promote well-being are a process of self-realization. I am cultivating qualities and values that I feel are worthwhile. I am realizing my potentials by making an effort to become the kind of person that I would like to become.

Spirituality is not the only path to eudaimonic happiness. People can pursue eudaimonic happiness through many different types of activities. Each person must decide for themselves which activities have the potential to bring eudaimonic happiness. Each person has a unique personality, a specific set of abilities, and a complex set of life circumstances. It is good that eudaimonic happiness can be pursued in many different ways.

Some worldviews consider hedonic happiness to be inherently wrong, bad, or sinful. People who hold these worldviews may believe that only eudaimonic happiness can contribute to a meaningful and satisfying life. They may believe the hedonic happiness has little value and frequently leads to a less meaningful and less satisfying life.

I hold a different worldview. I believe that hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness can both contribute to a meaningful and satisfying life. I believe that hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness are both valuable.

Remember, I do not expect other people to believe what I believe. There may be individuals for whom it makes sense to avoid hedonic happiness—or, at least, certain forms of hedonic happiness. Avoiding hedonic happiness may better suit their personalities, life experiences, and life circumstances. I am simply saying that a balance of hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness better suits my life.

If a person only seeks hedonic happiness, and neglects eudaimonic happiness, then that person may eventually experience a less meaningful and less satisfying life. This is known in the social sciences as the hedonic paradox or the hedonistic paradox.

The hedonic paradox occurs for a number of reasons.

One reason for the hedonic paradox is that people who strongly desire hedonistic pleasures can set their expectations too high. Their strong desires are accompanied by high expectations of pleasure and happiness from their hedonistic activities. When their hedonistic activities do not result in the anticipated levels of pleasure and happiness, people feel disappointed. Such disappointments can paradoxically decrease hedonic happiness they more people desire it.

Another reason for the hedonic paradox is that people can grow habituated to hedonistic activities. People engage in hedonistic activities so frequently that their senses become dulled to the pleasures. Or they engage in hedonistic activities so frequently that the activities become routine or boring. Paradoxically, as people increase the frequency of their hedonistic activities seeking to get more pleasure, they only grow more dulled and more bored by the activities that once gave them happiness.

The hedonic paradox occurs for other reasons as well. The main point is that becoming obsessed with hedonistic pleasures can actually decrease happiness overall.

How does a person avoid the hedonic paradox? A person avoids the hedonic paradox by also seeking eudaimonic happiness—especially eudaimonic happiness that involves helping other people achieve happiness and well-being.

The “Hedonistic Paradox” (or, rather, one version of it) states that the person who seeks pleasure, or happiness, for him- or herself will not find it, but the person who helps others will (or has a greater chance of finding it).

– James Konow and Joseph Earley ⁵

Those only are happy (I thought) who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end. Aiming thus at something else, they find happiness by the way.

– John Stuart Mill ⁶

A balance of hedonic happiness and eudaimonic happiness helps people avoid the hedonic paradox. What balance of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness works best depends on the individual. Each person is unique. Each person has their own “best” balance of hedonic and eudaimonic happiness.

1. Econation (2023). Hedonism or Eudaimonism. Quote taken from the opening paragraph.
2. Richard Ryan and Edward Deci (2001). On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52:141–66. Quote taken from pages 143-144.
3. Alan Waterman (1993). Two Conceptions of Happiness: Contrasts of Personal Expressiveness (Eudaimonia) and Hedonic Enjoyment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64:678-679. Quote taken from page 678.
4. Richard Ryan, Veronika Huta, and Edward Deci (2008). Living Well: A self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9:139-170. Quote taken from page 145.
5. James Konow and Joseph Earley (2008). The Hedonistic Paradox: Is homo economicus happier? Journal of Public Economics, 92:1-33. Quote taken from page 2.
6. John Stuart Mill. (1893) Autobiography. Re-published in 2022 by Arni Books. Kindle Edition. Quote taken from page 104.