Material Goods and Happiness: An Argumentative Philosophy Essay

This argumentative essay delves into the complex relationship between material goods and happiness. It begins by defining materialism and happiness, introducing hedonic and eudaimonic happiness, and then explores the central question: can material possessions truly bring lasting happiness? The essay presents arguments against the idea that material goods alone can generate happiness, citing factors such as the fleeting nature of possessions, the influence of market trends, the need for maintenance, and the never-ending pursuit of contentment. It also acknowledges research suggesting that experiential purchases can lead to increased happiness. The essay further examines varying perspectives on the value of material goods and their influence on satisfaction, ultimately concluding that an excessive focus on material possessions can detract from the essence of life and true contentment.

Running Head: ARGUMENTATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Argumentative Philosophy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ARGUMENTATIVE PHILOSPHY
Topic – Material Goods and Happiness
Psychology has proved through various tests that there is not any particular point in life
where pure enlightenment, complete satisfaction and fulfillment can be achieved. It supports the
statement that money only cannot purchase happiness. This is a popular idea which could be
proven wrong or could not be. The question of whether the material possession can enhance the
happiness of a person, has received much importance through the past years. In this regard,
according to Junejo (2019),it can be said that goods can be material or non-material. The
material goods are those which are usually tangible. The tangible goods can be seen, can be
touched and transferred from one place to another. Taken for example, the tangible or
materialistic goods are the cars, houses, clothes, jewelries and others. On the contrary, the non-
materialistic goods are those which are intangible. The non-materialistic goods are the engineers,
the doctors, the teachers, actors, lawyers and others. The common factor is that, both the material
and non-material goods have satisfied and valued the human wants. This essay will analyze
whether material goods can bring in happiness or not.
“Materialism” is a term which can be referred to as the importance placed on the material
possessions. A person is called materialistic when he/she has extreme affinity towards the
material possessions. He/She is called a materialist when their possession become the central part
of their lives and their existence. A person who is non-materialistic, does not consider the
acquisition of the possessions as important to their lives. On the other hand, Happiness has been
defined in the Oxford Dictionary, simply as “The State of being happy”. Hence, Happiness can
be further referred to as the feeling of contentment, joy, bliss and or ecstasy. According to
positive psychology, it is a global assessment of life with all its facets. It is rather a recollection
of the emotional experiences of the past. It is the reflection of being satisfied with life.

2ARGUMENTATIVE PHILOSPHY
Among the many theories on happiness, two most relevant theories would be useful to
mention. The first is Hedonic happiness and others is Eudaimonic happiness. The Hedonic
happiness is closely connected with the concept of well-being. It is about experiencing more
pleasure less pain. It can be gained through the possession of some material goods or material
possession which generate pleasure. The Hedonistic happiness is composed of a cognitive
component and an affective component whereas the Eudaimonic Happiness is defined by the
emotional fulfillment. It can be gained through achieving some purpose in life, reaching the
potential, personal growth and fulfilling any challenges in life (Ackerman 2019).
It can be clearly discerned that there are generally two types of happiness which differs
from person to person. Taken for example, a person becomes happy when he receives a
Lamborghini as a gift. On the other hand, another person becomes happy when he receives an
award for his merits. In this regard, it can be said that happiness is shaped by what is desired by a
person and what are his/her goals in life.
However, in short, there are two aspects of the biggest contradiction between “material
goods” and “happiness”. Material goods can either generate happiness within the human mind or
it cannot. The first argument is –material goods only cannot generate happiness. According to a
proverb in Philippine, if a person makes a habit of buying things he does not need or spends in
extravagance, he will soon be found selling things he does need. Psychology says that human
thirst for physical possessions never gets satisfied and so does the pursuit of purchase. The
physical possessions might bring in transitory joy but it can never last forever. This trait of
buying “things” for gaining happiness has been referred to by the researchers as “retail therapy”.
There are various factual bases of the claim that material possessions cannot buy happiness. The
reasons are as follows:

3ARGUMENTATIVE PHILOSPHY
 The material goods fade with time- The material possessions are temporary. They are
designed to attract people when they are kept in the store. After a certain period of time,
they begin to fade.
 The new trends in the market make everything out of use soon- Regarding the cars, new
clothes and kitchen technology, the world is moving forward every-day. It ensures that
most of the purchases become out of use soon and so does the happiness of buying it
new.
 The material possessions require regular maintenance- After buying the material
possessions, a particular time, energy and focus has to be given to organize, manage and
maintain (Hsieh and Chen-heng Yang 2015). It is distracting to the human mind from the
really valuable parts of life and causes extra stress.
 The search of happiness is never ending- If the purchase of stuff can bring happiness,
then the person who has a lot is always happy. He /She does not need anything in life to
be happy. However, this is not the scenario. Every human being on earth suffers is
disheartenment, despair, grief, sadness, dissatisfactions, broken –expectations. No one on
earth is completely happy and free from worries.
 The desire of contentment cannot be fulfilled by shopping- The more people get, the
more they crave for much. The overflowing wardrobes, drawers and closets cannot be the
only reason for contentment.
On the contrary, in today’s modernized world, people are more after the material possessions
to become happy and content. In a study which was published in the journal of “Social
Psychological and Personality Science” the researchers have shown that the material possessions
can be the reason behind happiness. The experiential purchases can bring in intense level of

4ARGUMENTATIVE PHILOSPHY
happiness on certain occasions. The earlier studies reflected on what people felt when they
bought a particular item. The researchers Elizabeth Dunn and Aeron Weidman tried to capture
what people felt after buying a stuff and how long their attachment with the stuff remained same.
After assessing the real-time momentary happiness, they found that repeated material purchases
and intense experiential purchase can retain happiness for a long time (Pegulescu 2016). Notably
the material purchase is the purchase of a computer, a tablet or a car whereas the experiential
purchase includes the purchase of a weekend trip, the spa gift cards of the cricket match ticket
and the like. Therefore, the concept of the type of happiness one desires again rises up. The
decision of whether to buy an experiential thing or a material thing depends on the choice of the
particular person.
The behavioral economists and the psychologists too are pondering on the question for
years. The psychologists like Thomas Gilovich and Leaf Van Boven are of the opinion that
people should invest on experiences rather than things. Their research found out experiences can
make people happier than buying stuffs. They also suggest that it is difficult to compare the
feelings of a particular person with others’ (Fastcompany.com 2019). A renowned professor of
the Harvard business school suggest that people are spending much more on the material
possessions. He further comments that, it is not necessary that the material goods do not make
people happy. They do make people happy and certain possessions make people happier than
others. Their study revealed that people felt happier if the purchase matched their personality.
The happiness gained from possessions also differs categorically. Taken for example, an
outgoing person would prefer to spend on a pub whereas, an introvert person will be the happiest
in spending money on books.

5ARGUMENTATIVE PHILOSPHY
Hence, it is not that material items do not cause happiness. It depends on the way they are
perceived and used. The possession of a book can provide life-time happiness. On the other
hand, the possession of other material goods might lose its luster with the passage of time. It is
the level of satisfaction the stuff can provide. Of course, man lives in a materialistic society, but
an excess of material goods cannot bring long –lasting contentment, the peace and genuine
satisfaction that is the very foundation of life. One should understand that an unceasing pursuit of
the material possessions can diminish the essence of life and the sense of contentment.

6ARGUMENTATIVE PHILOSPHY
Reference
Ackerman, Courtney. 2019. "What Is Happiness And Why Is It Important? (+ Definition In
Psychology)". Positivepsychologyprogram.Com. https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/what-
is-happiness/.
Fastcompany.com. 2019. "Scientific Proof That Buying Things Can Actually Lead To Happiness
(Sometimes)". Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/3061516/scientific-proof-that-
buying-things-can-actually-buy-happiness-sometimes.
Hsieh, Wen-jen, and Benny Chen-heng Yang 2015. "The pursuit of happiness: An empirical
study of BLI of OECD countries." In 2015 International Conference on Orange Technologies
(ICOT), pp. 83-87. IEEE, .
Junejo, Aziz. 2019. "Happiness Comes With Inner Peace, Not Material Goods". The Seattle
Times. https://www.seattletimes.com/life/lifestyle/happiness-comes-with-inner-peace-not-
material-goods/.
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Pegulescu, Anca-Mariana.2016 "Is relevance theory applicable to proverbs’
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