

Essay by Ben_holdingHigh School, 12th gradeA+, April 2007

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Non-theistic approaches and their ability to provide for human aspirations.

It is happiness that provides the basic foundation for human aspirations. Although people seek and aspire to be wealthy, popular, wise or healthy it is inevitably happiness, which such a 'status' provides, that is the true goal. Happiness is not a tangible object nor can it be achieved through a single path. More so however, it is happiness, not holiness, that people seek and thus it is unfounded to state that non-theistic approaches such as atheism and humanism are unable to provide fulfilment to human aspirations. Nor is it correct to say that there is a direct correlation between human aspirations and religious spirituality. The "Scope of Atheism" explores the common misinterpretation of human happiness and aspiration as the result of worship to a transcendent or supernatural entity.

"The usual pattern for linking God and happiness is as follows: every human being naturally desires the good, the object of happiness. God is the ultimate, self-subsisting good. Therefore, every person naturally desires god as a corollary of his nature as a human being. Happiness divorced from god is a contradiction in terms" [3]

For individuals who are experiencing fulfilment from religion, non-theistic approaches maybe unsuccessful in providing similar fulfilment and their happiness may come from a god like entity.

However, it would be an unsubstantiated generalisation to say either that all people are seeking similar forms of personal and spiritual satisfaction or that non-theistic approaches are unsuccessful at providing for all people. The main criteria for the successful provision of personal contentment of any approach lies with the individual desires of each person and thus such a question is incredibly open ended.

'Human aspiration' is an umbrella term regarding the desired of humanity as a whole but also that of the...