What philosophy asserts that happiness is the ultimate purpose of life, and increasing happiness is good?

Hedonism is a philosophical perspective that posits happiness or pleasure as the highest good and the ultimate purpose of human life. The core idea of hedonism is centered around maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, suggesting that actions are right if they promote happiness and wrong if they produce the opposite. This emphasis on happiness as a measure of moral value aligns with the belief that increasing one's happiness or the happiness of others is inherently good, making it a defining feature of hedonistic philosophy.

In contrast, while Aristotle's Ethics considers happiness (eudaimonia) as an essential goal, it sees it as connected to virtue and living a life in accordance with reason, not solely as the pursuit of pleasure. Natural Law Theory and Stoicism also have differing views on happiness and moral actions, focusing more on duty and virtue rather than the direct pursuit of pleasure. Thus, hedonism distinctly stands out for its foundational belief that happiness is the ultimate purpose of life.