Analysis of the concept of happiness in terms of philosophical counseling

Throughout human history, happiness is a concept that has been at the centre of an existential quest and has been addressed as a fundamental problem in almost all philosophical systems of thought. Happiness, which has been a value that individuals need most and strive to attain since ancient times, is nowadays confused with transient emotions such as pleasure, joy, enjoyment and amusement, and for this reason, it loses its permanence and becomes a problem at the individual and social level. While in the classical philosophical tradition, happiness was considered as the ultimate goal of a virtuous life, spiritual maturity and the art of living, today it is redefined with a pleasure-centred, consumption-oriented and performance-based understanding. The main purpose of this study is to examine individuals' intellectual orientations towards happiness, the meanings they attribute to the concept and the permanence levels of these meanings from the perspective of philosophical counselling based on the principles derived from moral philosophy theories. Especially today, it is tried to analyse how happiness is transformed by psychological, social and economic dynamics and what kind of results it has in the context of the individual's inner satisfaction and spiritual integrity. The thesis proposes a philosophical counselling process that will enable the individual to rethink happiness not only in terms of pleasure, but also in the light of concepts such as virtue, freedom, authenticity and meaning.