The Right to Pursue Happiness
When Thomas Jefferson penned the final draft of Declaration of Independence, he stated that men have the unalienable right to the pursuit of Happiness. Of the three unalienable rights he mentioned, including Life and Liberty, this particular right seems to be the most ambiguous. After all, Happiness is a rather subjective term: what makes one person Happy doesn’t necessarily make another person Happy, and vice-versa. This means that it’s difficult, if not outright contentious, to attempt to define exactly what Jefferson meant.
“Unfortunately, Thomas Jefferson himself never explained his use of the phrase “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence. However, he was almost certainly influenced by George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights (adopted June 12, 1776), which referred to “the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety” (Section 1).
Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration used the expression, “…life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness;” and in the final version of the Declaration it was altered slightly to “…Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”” – The Jefferson Monticello
Source: www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/pursuit-happiness
A genuine grammatical analysis of the phrase, however, indicates the Ambiguity arises from the fact that most people try to interpret or decipher the meaning of this Right based upon the word “Happiness.” Happiness, you see, is not what this Right is really about as derived by the sentence structure. It does not guarantee Happiness. It is not called the Right to Happiness. It does not say that Happiness (in itself) is an Unalienable Right. It is specifically about the PURSUIT of Happiness, indicating that Happiness, if it is to exist, must be achieved by the efforts of the individual in accordance with their own opinions. This means the Right to Pursue Happiness is more about the Right to Work than it is about a feeling of Euphoria. It also means that a correct interpretation of the Right to Pursue Happiness hinges on the Objective meaning of the word Pursue rather than the Subjective meaning of the word Happiness.
The word Pursue is, of course, a Verb meaning to Work Toward, Chase After, Cultivate, or Procure. Effort is implied, indicating that the Object of Happiness is neither a Gift nor an Entitlement, and shall only be experienced directly proportional to the success of the effort put in to obtain it. And since Happiness, the Goal of the Pursuit, is a purely Personal State of Mind, it means the Goal is ultimately Subjective – a Matter of Opinion.
Therefore, if the word Pursue means to Work Toward, and the word Happiness is a Subjective Goal, then the Right to Pursue Happiness can be reworded as the Right to Work Toward a Subjective Goal. It can also be reworded as any of the following statements and remain true to its original intent:
“A Human Being shall have the Right to a Personal Endeavor…”
“A Human Being shall have the Right to Work for their Own Interests…”
“A Human Being shall have the Right to Work toward a Personal Goal…”
And finally, in what is the most colloquial way to put it, “A Human Being shall have the Right to Work at making the best possible Life they can achieve for themselves…”
Wherever the interpretations and applications of these rewordings intersect, that is the meaning of the Right to Pursue Happiness. Wherever the interpretations and applications of these rewordings do not intersect, that is not the Right to Pursue Happiness. Let there be no misunderstanding as to what the Right to Pursue Happiness is all about.
Furthermore, we realize that the Right to Pursue Happiness is essentially a Formula with a Variable. Basically, it ensures that a person has the Right to Work toward a Subjective Goal, where the Subjective Goal is a Variable (to be determined by the individual) that must be qualified by the Right of Liberty and the Right to Life.
In other words, a Human Being shall have the Right to Work toward x, so long as x is qualified by the Right of Liberty and the Right to Life.
The Right to Pursue Happiness doesn’t give a person the right to do absolutely anything that makes them Happy, however, only those activities that are hierarchically qualified by the Right to Liberty and the Right to Life. Certainly, one cannot Pursue a Happiness that involves Murder, Injustice, or Deceit.
I cannot say whether Thomas Jefferson and the rest of the Committee of Five were consciously aware of the Hierarchical qualifying Nature of the Proto Criteria, since they were building upon the philosophy of John Locke and modifying the language of the Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason, but I firmly believe that on a subconscious level they were aware. If men have Unalienable Rights such as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, it stands to reason that these rights would be qualified by one another in some order of Applicability; they cannot be in conflict. Logic and Reason would dictate that the Right to Pursue Happiness cannot come at the expense of another’s Rights to Life and Liberty.
Following is the latest and most comprehensive version of the Right to Pursue Happiness I have been able to construct. I believe it is both concise and clear, and remains true to the intent of the original formula.
A Human Being shall have the Right to Work toward a Subjective Goal, so long as they Respect the Right of Liberty, so long as they Revere the Right to Life. A Human Being shall Not be made to Underachieve or Transgress their own Conscience, Nor shall They be forced to put aside Confidence in their own Abilities or coerced to Corrupt Themselves according to their Faith.