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This study has its roots in the assumption that the purpose of life is to be happy. Another significant assumption underlying the study is that work life occupies a significant place in working people's lives and, as a corollary to that, a close relationship exists between happiness in work and life. A look at working people's lives revealed various degrees of satisfaction spread across a wide scale, on the one end of which are people passionate about their jobs. On the opposite end of the scale are people who do their jobs unwillingly. What factors could be cited that determined people's place on this scale? This study assumes that various factors such as genetically inherited traits experienced biological/psychological changes, economic, social and cultural conditions of the family of origin/social environment and even chance, over which people do not have much control but still interact with, have an important impact on people's work lives besides their lives as a whole. However, despite these factors over which people do not have much control, people can still have an impact on their own lives including their professional lives through their choices. The main focus of the study is the relationship between people's occupational choices and their outlook on work life while biological, psychological, social and cultural factors were not discussed in detail. The study also discusses whether choices that lead people to pursue fulfilling careers share a common ground, placing human nature at the center of the issue. The discussion was specifically centered on concepts such as human nature, virtue, choices, Aristotelian "prohairesis", knowing one-self, potential, prioritizing internal aspects with altruistic aims or external aspects with competitive aims and showing the courage to be oneself. To that end, these philosophical concepts were defined and examined in terms of their impact on the lives of individuals in the history of philosophy and today. Besides drawing upon an amalgam of various philosophical strains, the study immensely benefited from experimental studies conducted in this area since these concepts are closely related to human biology, psychology and socio-cultural structures. Section 1 examines concepts such as work, occupation, profession and career as well as the relationship between career choices and human nature. The section poses the question of "Can people be whatever they want to be?" Theories of human nature are surveyed within that conceptual framework and divided into three groups: 1) Human nature is innate and unchangeable ("nature" approach). 2) Human nature is not innate, it is constructed ("nurture" approach). 3) Human nature is innate and it develops under different influences ("biopsychosocial" approach). Those who espouse the first school of thought maintain that human nature derives from instincts, evolution and genes. And since human nature is innate and unchangeable, reprogramming human beings is out of the question, which, quite naturally so, makes it impossible for one to throw into the equation natural choices. Those who espouse the second school of thought maintain that humans are not born with an innate nature; in fact, according to this strain of thought, human nature is flexible enough to be molded into shape. The followers of this approach believe that if human nature is something which can be constructed, then it can be assumed that humans can make choices without being subject to any sort of restrictions (with reference to those who dwell on the importance of social environment and culture if the social environment and the culture are convenient). This assumption left no room for common ground that would make people alienated or passionate and enthusiastic about their jobs. According to those who support the third school of thought, there is an innate human nature which can still be molded into shape through interaction with the social and cultural environment. According to this approach which is named as "biopsychosocial approach", personal growth is underpinned by biological (such as genes, prenatal environment, hormones), psychological (gene-environment interaction, beliefs, feelings, expectations) and socio-cultural (parental influence, peer influence, cultural norms) dimensions. This approach maintained that if humans are not empty slates and human nature can be nourished through innate biological elements as well as psychological and socio-cultural interaction, then a common ground can be found which can make people feel alienated or passionate about their jobs. This study adopts as its theoretical basis this particular approach, whose assumptions have been supported by scientific evidence. Even if human beings may be molded into shape through social and cultural interaction, the assumption of an all-encompassing, one-size fits all happiness criteria is not so outlandish since there is an innate human nature. Section two examined the concept of happiness as it developed throughout the history of philosophy. The concept of happiness manifested itself as eudaimonism. Eudaimonism is a moral philosophy that defines right action as that which leads to the "well-being" of the individual. It sees well-being as an objective that underlies all human action. Furthermore, this point of view established a relationship between well-being and virtue and saw well-being as an objective that can be attained through education and training. Beyond that, Eudaimonism has embraced certain values of hedonism through the course of the history of philosophy, engaged itself with the Christian and Muslim concept of afterlife happiness and switched from individualism to utilitarianism in the New Age. On the other hand, experimental studies conducted on the basis of philosophical theories had come to validate most philosophical theories on happiness. In 1970s, psychologists who were struggling to come up with a definition of happiness started evaluating individual happiness not in terms of eudaimonic values (whether one has led a praise-worthy life or not) but rather in terms of well-being; subsequently, they coined the term "subjective well-being", which refers to the preponderance of positive sentiments over negative ones in an individual's life. In that sense, it was possible for people to feel happy and express it. According to research studies, optimistic and open-hearted people, people who are able to build friendships or enjoy a happy marriage, people who utilize their skills in their social and professional lives, who profess religious beliefs or who enjoy a high level of self-confidence in individual cultures or people who enjoy high degrees of social acceptance in collectivist cultures as well as those who have regular sleep patterns and do regular sport are more inclined to feel happy. In these studies, family relationships, friendship bonds and social relations emerge as factors with the largest impact on human happiness. While, on the income side of things, earning enough income to make one a member of the middle class and afford basic necessities contribute to happiness, any income earned above that level does not necessarily contribute to human happiness on its own. While leading a virtuous life kept unhappiness at bay, it also promoted happiness. It also emerged that work has an impact on individual levels of happiness not just due to its wage-earning aspect but also its positive influence on self-respect and social relations. What also matters in that respect is the type of job that one does. Jobs which do not promote self-management skills caused people to feel spiritless and worthless. Besides, personal targets also had an impact on happiness; individuals with family life who pursue selfless aspirations are more likely to lead fulfilling and meaningful lives. Scientists have posited different theories with regards to what kind of jobs make people happier on the strength of results gleaned from research studies on people and work. Combining these theories and the research results, a list has been prepared containing the qualities a job must have to make one happy. While it is only a tentative list, it is agreed that one can earn certain insights by assessing to what degree the listed qualities align with his choice of work before making a career choice. The list contains the following qualities: 1) Autonomy; having control over one's work, 2) mastership; continuous development in a professional area, 3) having a purpose/transcendence; working for a greater purpose than ourselves, 4) enabling the individual to make use of the virtues he/she is talented in and the ways through which he/she may access them (signature strengths), 5) enabling the individual to fully concentrate on a subject to the point of exclusion of other things (flow), to work hard effortlessly and get feedback, 6) earning enough income to make one a member of the middle class and afford basic necessities, 7)enabling the individual to have enough spare time to foster social and familial relationships, 8)enabling the individual to pursue altruistic aims instead of competitive actions. The study then continued to try to ascertain a common ground with regards to choices that enable people to choose fulfilling careers following a theoretical encapsulation of human nature and desirable job qualities, bringing the concept of choice or preference into focus in Section three as implied by Aristotle's "Prohairesis". Choices have been divided into two groups: daily life choices and choices which determine one's course of life such as occupational/professional choices. It is also mentioned that career choice, in fact, involves making a package of choices and that it may be difficult to take them back once they have been made. The process of making a healthy choice, on such an important subject, was examined via Aristotelian "prohairesis". Prohairesis used to be purely considered in terms of reasoning and cogitation while choices arrived at as a consequence of technical reasoning, such as in mathematics, was usually not considered within this framework. In that regard, career choices were regarded as a component of prohairesis. Within that framework, the process of making a fulfilling career choice has been described as follows, taking inspiration from the prohairesis process: 1)People who stand on the verge of making a career choice should not rush into decisions; they must think thoroughly and be aware that they are making a choice that "brings their future into the present". 2) Whilst making choices, the individual should think and act originally, test his knowledge of the good and review his assumptions carefully and not confuse them with absolute reality. 3) An individual's career choice must reflect his personality; therefore, the individual must know himself and his planned choice of work well and he must evaluate the congruity between his nature and the desired profession. 4) An individual making a career choice must be both beware of the reasons for his choice and make projections about the consequences thereof. Following the theoretical conceptualization of the process of career choosing with inspiration from the prohairesis concept, the study went on to examine the various aspects of the same process. It has been seen fit for the purposes of this study that closely related aspects involved in the process of career choosing should be evaluated together. Accordingly, aspects such as cogitating, testing one's knowledge of the good and knowing oneself have been examined altogether under the heading "knowing oneself" while aspects such as knowing the profession, being aware of the reasons for one's career choices and making projections about the consequences of one's professional choices have been examined under the heading "reasons and consequences of choices". The study looks at the concept of "knowing oneself" from the perspective of antique age philosophers. Knowing oneself has been mentioned as a life-long process which does not end at a definite point. According to Socrates, the individual has to carefully examine his own life to attain self-knowledge; knowing oneself entails knowing one's soul and being wise. Aristoteles, on the other hand, mentions that knowing what is good does not automatically translate into good actions since one has to learn to master himself by practice and commit ethical deeds by training his will and resisting his urges. Aristoteles points out that human potential may be converted into deeds when one perceives his own true nature and that wisdom shows man what his aim is and the tools to achieve it. The concept of true human nature was inevitably evocative of the concept "potential". What is more, the concept seemed to be in concordance with the assumption that man has a nature that is both innate and susceptible to outward influences. The study drew attention to the significance of the individual contemplating questions such as "who am I?" and "what kind of person do I want to be in the future?" within the context of potential and self-knowledge. The study also mentions that while ruminating on such questions, one can freely engage in conversations with friends or experts trying to find answers and make use of individual assessment tools. In the following pages, the study dwelled on possible risks one may encounter unless he shows any effort to know himself besides the concepts of "culture robot" and building a "personality". It has been argued that an individual not involved in any efforts at attaining self-knowledge may be susceptible to making random choices in life or being led astray by targets, chosen only because they are socially acceptable. On the other hand, it has also been argued that if an individual living a choice which does not reflect himself, continues making the effort to know himself, he may still have the opportunity to form a conscious intent to choose a suitable career path and use that intent later in life to make wiser choices that reflect his true personality, even though he may not have a meaningful and fulfilling work life at that moment. Afterwards, the focus shifts to knowing one's job/profession, the reasons behind the chosen career path and anticipating the possible consequences thereof within the context of the concept "prohairesis". Thereafter, it has been mentioned that knowing one's job/profession is outside the scope of this study despite a few passing remarks with regards to the benefits of internship and building dialogues with people from the industry in terms of getting an idea of the nature of the profession. It has also been argued that making an informed career choice is part of deliberating upon that choice and that people are probably aware of the reasons behind their career choices, even though they may not have deliberated on it at length or they may have found themselves in tough circumstances preventing such deliberation. Furthermore, it has been stated that there can be no single reason behind a career choice since choosing one's profession involves making a package of choices. It has been argued that one prioritizes one particular reason over numerous others whilst making a final career choice and that the outweighing reason shall be the first "something" in the "something done for something", an expression coined by Aristoteles. It has also been stated that this does not mean the total exclusion of other reasons, which are then relegated to a secondary position and that job/profession choice has been assumed to be divided into two groups for clarity of thought and expression. These are: 1) Choices where internal and altruistic aims (realizing one's potential, contributing to society, creating family time) were prioritized. In that case, "something done for something" refers to being a doctor to help others. 2) Choices where external aspects and competitive aims (such as power/reputation/money/gaining status) were prioritized. In that case, "something done for something" refers to being a doctor to acquire wealth. Although it was made a binary distinction concerning the reasons behind of the work choices of a person, it was also foreseen that this person would not totally exclude the reason which is not prioritized or this person would not prioritize the same reason throughout his entire life. Even so, it has been argued that since it reflects a basis perspective on life, prioritization of a particular choice over others could be anticipated in an individual's life so long as one does not find himself in trying circumstances or go through big changes. With regards to anticipating the consequences of one's career/profession choices, it has discussed to what extent this is possible. "Systems Theory Framework of Career Development" saw career development as the product of complicated and interrelated systems interacting with one another. Additionally, this theory posits the idea that career development refers to a dynamic process which shows variations depending on time and chance. It followed from that reasoning that expecting individuals interacting with such a complicated system to make anticipations about the consequences of their career choices was not very realistic. However, the study maintains that this does not necessarily render irrelevant the act of thinking on the consequences of one's choices. Within that context, the study examined the relationship between prioritized aspects whilst making a career choice and its consequences. Further the possible consequences of prioritizing internal aspects with altruistic aims or external aspects with competitive aims were evaluated via a letter sent in respect of the profession choice of 23 years old, civil engineering student young woman who most probably made her profession choice with the forcing of her family and prioritizing the external aspects with competitive aims. Four years after making her career choice, this young woman started saying "I do not want to be a construction engineer. What is worse, I do not have the slightest idea what profession I want to be in. I am totally confused and cannot gather my thought together." Thankfully, one's career choices are not restricted by one profession. This young woman still has the chance to undo the negative consequences of her ill-thought career choice by involving herself in a brand-new career selection process and developing virtuous attributes such as ambition, perseverance, patience and courage. Following from that reasoning, the focus shifted to Rollo May's concept of "showing the courage to be one self". May's courage does not refer to the courage needed in warfare; he describes courage as "the capacity to confront anxiety which matures as one attains freedom." Furthermore, May's "hero" does not refer to persons who commit extraordinarily fearless acts; it rather refers to persons who show the courage to say "this is my being" through their heroic essence and acts. According to May, courage is a choice and there is nothing courageous about choices which are made saying "I had no other choice." Based on the above-mentioned statements in the young woman's letter, the study dwelled on the relationship between May's "showing the courage to be oneself" and "knowing oneself". The study arrived at the conclusion that an individual who has attained a certain level of self-knowledge and who shows the courage to be himself by focusing on the nourishment of his inner attributes can bring his choices into life through making choices that reflect his professional/occupational proclivities, only if those conditions which impact his life but over which he has no control are favorable to his aspirations. As MacIntyre mentions with reference to Aristoteles, individuals who are not able to show the courage to be themselves, will not be able to convert their potential into deeds, will get frustrated in the process and fail in their attempts to reach happiness despite their efforts. In light of all these assessments, the study concluded that those individuals who deliberate on their choices in their life journey, who seek the knowledge of the good in a bid to attain self-knowledge, who are aware of their choices and the reasons behind them, who evaluate the possible consequences of their choices are more likely to become the happy person in the sense described by Aristotle, as long as they prioritize internal and selfless components of value and show the courage to be themselves and so long as external life aspects over which they are able to exercise little control are favorable to their aspirations.