Is Happiness Good?
Happiness is a physical good (as opposed to moral and metaphysical goods); it is good by definition of “physical good” and in no other sense. To say that a man has acquired physical good is to say precisely that he is happy (and vice versa). The first part of the sentence carries no more information than the second part. In other words, happiness does not “have the property” of being good; happiness is defined to be physical goodness. Now my happiness is a physical good, but it depends on goods other than myself. Considered as action-while-at-rest, to be happy about something requires (1) seeing a thing, (2) in seeing, possessing (e.g., comprehending) it, and (3) in possessing, enjoying it. While I have my own {humanity, personality, happiness}, the last one of these in its capacity as a good splits into its own troika, namely, {useful, virtuous, pleasant}. On the other hand, the state of affairs of “a man’s being happy” is an objective good, insofar as one enjoys it because it is good (and if one doesn’t, then he is in trouble), not the other way around as is the case with a subjective good, wherein something is good or a good, because it is loved. Note that happiness is subjective insofar as you alone feel it and are responsible for it. A good is subjective whenever it yields happiness.