subject: Lessons of Greatness From Abraham Lincoln and Jean Jacques Rousseau [print this page] Rousseau found the dominant culture and philosophy of Europe too cruel and materialistic. His idea of happiness was sentimental, peacefulness, social and private. The dominant philosophy of Europe or the western tradition and civilization is that happiness is something you earn and deserve and conquer. According to western tradition there are no individual rights to happiness: you can only be happy if you are successful living in a luxury. Note the fact that to live in luxury you have to soldier through, beating people along the way (and sometimes making them slaves) brushing them aside and winning in life. Happiness and successes is something you deserve and earn according to the western tradition. You can only access happiness by becoming successful in life. In this way, people's lives are in state of war, fighting to achieve, planning, controlling, strategizing, and managing is the order of western way of living.
Lessons of Greatness From Abraham Lincoln and Jean Jacques Rousseau
