Critique on Article “The Ends of Happiness” Essay

Dr Karl Giberson is a professor at Eastern Nazarene College with a PHD in Physics from Rice University. A man approaching his fifties at the writing of this article, Giberson’s solution to his mid-life crisis was to write an article â€Å"The Ends of Happiness†. His article was well written and he tries to impart his experiences with happiness to young adults. In the article, Giberson claims that happiness should be the end result of our efforts and he provides a compelling argument why we should not get caught up in our pursuit of happiness through materialistic gains. However, his arguments to back his thesis are inadequate due to an inherent contradiction in his supporting point and one unproven assumption in his article. Giberson (2006) uses the Candy Experiment with children to prove his point that our ability to withhold satisfaction leads to a â€Å"life time of happiness† (para. 5). He further explains that â€Å"unpleasant means can yield satisfying ends† (2006). This implies that our happiness will increase if we are able to set aside the things that make us happy, and work towards our goal. However, in his later argument, the author seems to imply that the happiest moments in his life, were times when he did not work towards materialistic gains. For instance, he claims he â€Å"lived well†, when he â€Å"left work early† and spent his time with his family (Giberson, 2006, para.12, 13 & 14). This illustrates his point that the most memorable moments in life comes from relationships as opposed to material gains (Giberson, 2006). While the latter argument supports his thesis, the former contradicts it by implying that happiness is something to be achieved through materialistic gains. This is shown in Giberson’s example about a student graduating with â€Å"greater earning power† (2006) and how this ability â€Å"is the formula for a lifetime of happiness† (Giberson, 2006, para. 5). Furthermore, Giberson’s argument seems to be contingent on one major assumption. That happiness gained from acquiring things, is less meaningful than happiness gained from spending time with family and friends. To illustrate his point, he cites evidence from his own memories. He states that memories gained from family time are clearer than the memories of â€Å"buying his first car† and â€Å"cashing his first paycheck† (Giberson, 2006, para.14). Giberson then applies this line of reasoning to back his thesis by showing us how happiness from material gains alone reduces our overall happiness as our social interactions decrease (Giberson, 2006). However, such opinionated evidence provides weak support to his thesis and even though he did not plan on writing a scientific article, using personal memories to validate such a major assumption weakens his argument substantially. In conclusion, Giberson has indeed written a well-structured editorial with many coherent and interesting points. However, contradicting arguments and one unsupported assumption in the article has undermined his thesis and weakened his argument. Giberson’s thesis would have fared much better had he quoted from valid sources instead of his own personal experiences. Reference Giberson, K. (2006, Mar. – Apr.). The Ends Of Happiness. Science & Spirit, 17, 6-7.