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Are People The Best Judges Of Their Own Happiness, Or Outsiders? In Defining Happiness, Should We Think Of Entire Lives Or Of Shorter Periods Such As Moments, Days, Or Years? And To What Extent Are Virtue And Happiness Linked?

-Sissela Bok

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Are People The Best

Sissela Bok

...

Are People The Best Judges Of Their Own Happiness, Or Outsiders? In Defining Happiness, Should We Think Of Entire Lives Or Of Shorter Periods Such As Moments, Days, Or Years? And To What Extent Are Virtue And Happiness Linked?

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Regardless Of How Often The Appetite For Entertainment Violence Becomes Addictive, Increased Exposure Does Risk Further Desensitizing Viewers. And The Element Of Pleasure That They Derive May Lead Them To Regard Violence As A More Acceptable Way Of Dealing With Problems, And Victimization As More Tolerable So Long As It Befalls Others, Not Themselves.

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Breathing Space

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The Television Screen Is The Lens Through Which Most Children Learn About Violence. Through The Magnifying Power Of This Lens, Their Everyday Life Becomes Suffused By Images Of Shootings, Family Violence, Gang Warfare, Kidnappings, And Everything Else That Contributes To Violence In Our Society. It Shapes Their Experiences Long Before They Have Had The Opportunity To Consent To Such Shaping Or Developed The Ability To Cope Adequately With This Knowledge.

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Three Sorts Of Goods, Aristotle Specified, Contribute To Happiness: Goods Of The Soul, Including Moral And Intellectual Virtues And Education; Bodily Goods, Such As Strength, Good Health, Beauty, And Sound Senses; And External Goods, Such As Wealth, Friends, Good Birth, Good Children, Good Heredity, Good Reputation And The Like.

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