Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the conditions necessary for the achievement of a general human happiness. By 'general happiness' I refer to those conditions in which all persons have the means necessary to pursue their good and in which the attainment of happiness is a common occurrence. ;In a similar inquiry, Herbert Marcuse described three preconditions for the achievement of a general happiness: material abundance, self-knowledge and social justice. He held that abundance is necessary to satisfy our basic material needs, social justice to resolve the divisions within society produced by domination and servitude, and self-knowledge to overcome the forces within the psyche which uphold the need for domination. ;In order to assess these claims about human happiness, I examine the nature of the self. I argue that liberal theories of justice favor liberty over equality because they rely on an inadequate conception of the self. This conception characterizes the self as individuated in advance and given prior to its ends. For such a self, the liberty to choose our ends must be the chief human value. ;In contrast, Marx's conception of the self as a species being suggests a common identity defined by our self-consciousness, creativity and social nature. For a species being, both liberty and equality are fundamental values. Liberty is essential because we are the creators of value, equality because we are social beings with a common identity. ;In my judgment, social justice entails not only a right to liberty, but also a positive right to those goods necessary to pursue happiness. Such a right to livelihood differs from the largely negative rights of liberalism in that it is held not against individuals, but against society as a whole. I conclude that a right to livelihood follows from our status as species beings and that its recognition will greatly advance the goals of social justice and human happiness