Read complete books and articles on: Happiness

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15 of the Best Books and Articles on: Happiness

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Happiness, Pleasure, and Judgment: The Contextual Theory and Its Applications » Read Now
by Allen Parducci. 230 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
2.

Welfare, Happiness and Ethics » Read Now
by L. W. Sumner. 244 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Moral philosophers agree that welfare matters. But they do not agree about what it is, or how much it matters. Wayne Sumner presents an original theory of welfare, investigating its nature and discussing its importance. He considers and rejects all notable rival theories of welfare, both objective...
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Moral philosophers agree that welfare matters. But they do not agree about what it is, or how much it matters. Wayne Sumner presents an original theory of welfare, investigating its nature and discussing its importance. He considers and rejects all notable rival theories of welfare, both objective and subjective, including hedonism and theories founded on desire or preference. His own theory connects welfare closely with happiness or life satisfaction. Professor Sumner then proceeds to defend welfarism, that is, to argue (against the value pluralism that currently dominates moral philosophy) that welfare is the only basic ethical value, the only thing which we have a moral reason to promote for its own sake. He concludes by discussing the implications of this thesis for ethical and political theory.
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3.

The Morality of Happiness » Read Now
by Julia Annas. 502 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Ancient ethical theories, based on the notions of virtue and happiness, have struck many as an attractive alternative to modern theories. But we cannot find out whether this is true until we understand ancient ethics--and to do this we need to examine the basic structure of ancient ethical theory...
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Ancient ethical theories, based on the notions of virtue and happiness, have struck many as an attractive alternative to modern theories. But we cannot find out whether this is true until we understand ancient ethics--and to do this we need to examine the basic structure of ancient ethical theory, not just the details of one or two theories. In this book, Annas brings together the results of a wide-ranging study of ancient ethical philosophy and presents it in a way that is easily accessible to anyone with an interest in ancient or modern ethics. She examines the fundamental notions of happiness and virtue, the role of nature in ethical justification and the relation between concern for self and concern for others. Her careful examination of the ancient debates and arguments shows that many widespread assumptions about ancient ethics are quite mistaken. Ancient ethical theories are not egoistic, and do not depend for their acceptance on metaphysical theories of a teleological kind. Most centrally, they are recognizably theories of morality, and the ancient disputes about the place of virtue in happiness can be seen as akin to modern disputes about the demands of morality.
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4.

Happiness Research: State and Prospects, in Review of Social Economy » Read Now
by Bruno S. Frey, Alois Stutzer. 21 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
5.

In Defense of Happiness: A Response to the Experience Machine, in Social Theory and Practice » Read Now
by Matthew Silverstein. 21 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
6.

'Happiness' in Cross-Linguistic & Cross-Cultural Perspective, in Daedalus » Read Now
by Anna Wierzbicka. 9 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
7.

How Not to Buy Happiness, in Daedalus » Read Now
by Robert H. Frank. 10 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
8.

The Science of Happiness, in Perspectives in Psychiatric Care » Read Now
by Mary Paquette. 2 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
9.

From the Happiness of Virtue to the Virtue of Happiness: 400 B.C.-A.D. 1780, in Daedalus » Read Now
by Darrin M. McMahon. 12 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
10.

Handbook of Positive Psychology (Chap. 5 "Subjective Well-Being: The Science of Happiness and Life Satisfaction") » Read Now
by Shane J. Lopez, C. R. Snyder. 829 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

Psychology has long been enamored of the dark side of human existence, rarely exploring a more positive view of the mind. What has psychology contributed, for example, to our understanding of the various human virtues? Regrettably, not much. The last decade, however, has witnessed a growing movement...
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Psychology has long been enamored of the dark side of human existence, rarely exploring a more positive view of the mind. What has psychology contributed, for example, to our understanding of the various human virtues? Regrettably, not much. The last decade, however, has witnessed a growing movement to abandon the exclusive focus on the negative. Psychologists from several subdisciplines are now asking an intriguing question: "What strengths does a person employ to deal effectively with life?" The Handbook of Positive Psychology provides a forum for a more positive view of the human condition. In its pages, readers are treated to an analysis of what the foremost experts believe to be the fundamental strengths of humankind. Both seasoned professionals and students just entering the field are eager to grasp the power and vitality of the human spirit as it faces a multitude of life challenges. The Handbook is the first systematic attempt to bring together leading scholars to give voice to the emerging field of positive psychology.
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11.

Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Discussion of happiness begins on p. 18) » Read Now
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. 182 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
12.

Ethics: A Critical Introduction (Chap. 6 "The Pursuit of Happiness") » Read Now
by A. Campbell Garnett. 528 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library
13.

Aristotle on the Perfect Life (Chap. 2 "Perfection and Happiness" and Chap. 3 "Happiness and Self-Sufficiency") » Read Now
by Anthony Kenny. 176 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate in recent years; it is of vital importance to the question of the relevance of his ethics in the present day. Aristotle's admirers struggle to read a comprehensive account of the supreme happiness into...
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Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate in recent years; it is of vital importance to the question of the relevance of his ethics in the present day. Aristotle's admirers struggle to read a comprehensive account of the supreme happiness into the Nicomachean Ethics; Kenny argues that those who are prepared to take the neglected Eudemian Ethics seriously preserve their admiration intact without doing violence to any of the relevant texts of the Nicomachean Ethics. Kenny has refined his position on the relation between the two works, offering a fresh examination and interpretation of the Eudemian Ethics on the basis of the 1991 Oxford Classical Text. He combines scholarly discussion of the Greek texts with reflection of the topics covered by Aristotle, taking account of post-Aristotelian treatments of themes such as moral vocation and moral luck.
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14.

The Passion for Happiness: Samuel Johnson and David Hume (Chap. Three "Happiness") » Read Now
by David Hume, Samuel Johnson, Adam Potkay. 241 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

Although widely perceived as inhabiting different, even opposed, literary worlds, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) and David Hume (1711-1776) shared common ground as moralists. Adam Potkay traces their central concerns to Hellenistic philosophy, as conveyed by Cicero, and to earlier moderns such as...
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Although widely perceived as inhabiting different, even opposed, literary worlds, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) and David Hume (1711-1776) shared common ground as moralists. Adam Potkay traces their central concerns to Hellenistic philosophy, as conveyed by Cicero, and to earlier moderns such as Addison and Mandeville.
Johnson's and Hume's large and diverse bodies of writings, Potkay says, are unified by several key questions: What is happiness? What is the role of virtue in the happy life? What is the proper relationship between passion and reflection in the happy or flourishing individual?
In their writings, Johnson and Hume largely agree upon what flourishing means for both human beings and the communities they inhabit. They also tell a common story about the history that led up to the enlightened age of eighteenth-century Europe. On the divisive topic of religion, these two great men of letters wrote with a decorum that characterizes the Enlightenment in Britain as compared to its French counterpart. In The Passion for Happiness, Adam Potkay illuminates much that philosophers and historians do not ordinarily appreciate about Hume, and that literary scholars might not recognize about Johnson.
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15.

Suffering and Moral Responsibility (Chap. Six "The Moral Asymmetry of Happiness and Suffering") » Read Now
by Jamie Mayerfeld. 237 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

In this original study, Jamie Mayerfeld undertakes a careful inquiry into the meaning and moral significance of suffering. Understanding suffering in hedonistic terms as an affliction of feeling, he addresses difficulties associated with its identification and measurement. He then turns to an...
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In this original study, Jamie Mayerfeld undertakes a careful inquiry into the meaning and moral significance of suffering. Understanding suffering in hedonistic terms as an affliction of feeling, he addresses difficulties associated with its identification and measurement. He then turns to an examination of the duty to relieve suffering: its content, its weight relative to other moral considerations, and the role it should play in our lives. L Among the claims defended in the book are that suffering needs to be distinguished from both physical pain and the frustration of desire, that interpersonal comparisons of the intensity of happiness and suffering are possible, that several psychological processes hinder our awareness of other people's suffering, and that the prevention of suffering should often be pursued indirectly. Mayerfeld concludes his discussion by arguing that the reduction of suffering is morally more important thanthe promotion of happiness, and that most of us greatly underestimate the force of the duty to prevent suffering. L As the first systematic book-length inquiry into the moral significance of suffering, Suffering and Moral Responsibility makes an important contribution to moral philosophy and political theory, and will interest specialists in each of these areas.
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