Ten years ago, shortly after publishing a book called The Morality of Happiness about the structure of ancient ethical theory, I received an email informing me that I had been adde
Many empirical studies throughout the social and biomedical sciences focus only on very narrow outcomes such as income, or a single specific disease state, or a measure of positive
The philosophy of Aristotle (384-322, B.C.E.) remains a beacon of our culture. But no part of Aristotle's work is more alive and compelling today than his contribution to ethics an
Well-being is most commonly used in philosophy to describe what is non-instrumentally or ultimately good for a person. The question of what well-being consists in is of independent
Everyone wants to be happy. Happiness is obviously a good thing and, if we can get it without sacrificing other important things, we would. Most people wish not just for their own
In ordinary speech, “well-being” is often used interchangeably with such terms as “health,” “happiness,” and “prosperity” (see Happiness). To be concerned about someone's well-bein
God himself, in creating man in his own image, has written upon his heart the desire to see him. Even if this desire is often ignored, God never ceases to draw man to himself becau
The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. the Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no long
The 1776 US Declaration of Independence speaks of the “unalienable Rights … of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, a formula based on wording drafted by Thomas Jefferson; but it does not say what happiness is. Elsewhere, Jefferson wrote that “our greatest happiness is always the result of a good conscience, good health, occupation, and freedom in all just pursuits” but this relates to the supposed causes of the state not to its actual nature. Historically there are two broad ways of conceiving happiness both of which originate in ancient thought and which might be termed the ‘functional’ and the ‘experiential ‘. In the 19th century, especially in the work of the English utilitarian Jeremy Bentham, happiness was thought of as a state of pleasure, with pleasure being understood as a kind of sensation. Unhappiness, then, is the corresponding state of experiencing displeasure or ‘pain’ One of the apparent theoretical advantages of this view is that it does not tie happiness to any particular activity or way of living and so accommodates the fact that people may derive happiness from different things. It does though face two powerful objections: first, there are no “happiness sensations”; second, we think that happiness may be good or bad, shallow or profound. The happiness, however intense, got by a sadist from inflicting pain and misery is disvaluable, while that which comes from helping the needy is valuable. Such considerations along with the idea that genuine happiness has depth, duration and relates to valued activities had led people to look to the other ancient view which is to be found in the work of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and Aquinas. According to this, happiness is not an experience but a condition in which aspects of human life which contribute to its good are fulfilled. The Greek term ‘eudaimonia’ sometimes rendered as happiness is better translated as flourishing or as living or functioning well as a human being. This connects it with the idea of well-being, which can then be linked to experience both as an aspect of it and as awareness of well-being.