But it is too obvious that people are better off when they are healthy,
educated, have more than an economic sufficiency, and so forth,
Better off how?
Do you agree with Aristotle that the goal of life is to be happy?
Or you with Plato that the unexamined life is not worth living?
if the latter, education as we understand it is a good thing.
If the former, I'm not so sure. Are cultures that have no written language necessarily unhappier than those that have one?
Are bond traders in New York today happier than Aborigines were 2,000 living self-sufficient on their own land?
For most people, offer than the choice of reading Hamlet or watching the Simpsons, and they'll choose the Simpsons. Would they be happier if they chose Hamlet?
I would be VERY leery of assuming that the things that make me happy will make others happy.
Whatever enables a person to live more fully, rather than being ... ignorant of his options,
Awareness of our options can be a bad thing rather than a good thing, especially if those options look wonderful but aren't. Is it better to be aware that one has the option of using heroin, crack cocaine, or abstaining than it is not to have the option of choosing heroin or crack cocaine? |
