GANDHI ON HAPPINESS AND THE GOOD HUMAN LIFE

Abstract

This paper will argue that though Gandhi thought of the good human life as a life of self restraint and practice of virtue (and as not connected with the pursuit of happiness as an end in itself) he considered goodness as inseparably connected with happiness. In this connection Section I of this paper will briefly discuss Gandhi's
understanding of the good human life as a life of self sacrifice spent in the exercise of the yama/niyama (cardinal and casual virtues). Section II will argue that Gandhi (like Aristotle) thought that the good human life was a happy life.