The Happiness Philosophers

Author : Bart Schultz
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691154775
Total Pages : 453 pages
Book Rating : 4.70/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Happiness Philosophers written by Bart Schultz and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A colorful history of utilitarianism told through the lives and ideas of Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and its other founders In The Happiness Philosophers, Bart Schultz tells the colorful story of the lives and legacies of the founders of utilitarianism—one of the most influential yet misunderstood and maligned philosophies of the past two centuries. Best known for arguing that "it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong," utilitarianism was developed by the radical philosophers, critics, and social reformers William Godwin (the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft and father of Mary Shelley), Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart and Harriet Taylor Mill, and Henry Sidgwick. Together, they had a profound influence on nineteenth-century reforms, in areas ranging from law, politics, and economics to morals, education, and women's rights. Their work transformed life in ways we take for granted today. Bentham even advocated the decriminalization of same-sex acts, decades before the cause was taken up by other activists. As Bertrand Russell wrote about Bentham in the late 1920s, "There can be no doubt that nine-tenths of the people living in England in the latter part of last century were happier than they would have been if he had never lived." Yet in part because of its misleading name and the caricatures popularized by figures as varied as Dickens, Marx, and Foucault, utilitarianism is sometimes still dismissed as cold, calculating, inhuman, and simplistic. By revealing the fascinating human sides of the remarkable pioneers of utilitarianism, The Happiness Philosophers provides a richer understanding and appreciation of their philosophical and political perspectives—one that also helps explain why utilitarianism is experiencing a renaissance today and is again being used to tackle some of the world's most serious problems.

Author : Frederic Lenoir
Publisher : Melville House
ISBN 13 : 1612194397
Total Pages : 210 pages
Book Rating : 4.94/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Happiness written by Frederic Lenoir and published by Melville House. This book was released on 2015-04-07 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A huge bestseller in Europe, Frederic Lenoir’s Happiness is an exciting journey that examines how history’s greatest philosophers and religious figures have answered life’s most fundamental question: What is happiness and how do I achieve it? From the ancient Greeks on—from Aristotle, Plato, and Chuang Tzu to the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad; from Voltaire, Spinoza, and Schopenhauer to Kant, Freud, and even modern neuroscientists—Lenoir considers the idea that true and lasting happiness is indeed possible. In clear language, Lenoir concisely surveys what the greatest thinkers of all time have had to say on the subject, and, with charming prose, raises provocative questions: · Do we have a duty to be happy? · Is there a connection between individual and collective happiness? · Is happiness contagious? · Is there a difference between pleasure and happiness? · Can unhappiness and happiness coexist? · Does our happiness depend on our luck? Understanding how civilization’s best minds have answered those questions, Lenoir suggests, not only makes for a fascinating reading experience, but also provides a way for us to see us how happiness, that most elusive of feelings, is attainable in our own lives.

Author : Diana Lobel
Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 0231545320
Total Pages : 443 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Philosophies of Happiness written by Diana Lobel and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2017-11-14 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to be truly happy? In Philosophies of Happiness, Diana Lobel provides a rich spectrum of arguments for a theory of happiness as flourishing or well-being, offering a global, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary perspective on how to create a vital, fulfilling, and significant life. Drawing upon perspectives from a broad range of philosophical traditions—Eastern and Western, ancient and contemporary—the book suggests that just as physical health is the well-being of the body, happiness is the healthy and flourishing condition of the whole human being, and we experience the most complete happiness when we realize our potential through creative engagement. Lobel shows that while thick descriptions of happiness differ widely in texture and detail, certain themes resonate across texts from different traditions and historical contexts, suggesting core features of a happy life: attentive awareness; effortless action; relationship and connection to a larger, interconnected community; love or devotion; and creative engagement. Each feature adds meaning, significance, and value, so that we can craft lives of worth and purpose. These themes emerge from careful study of philosophical and religious texts and traditions: the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus; the Chinese traditions of Confucius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi; the Hindu Bhagavad Gītā; the Japanese Buddhist tradition of Soto Zen master Dōgen and his modern expositor Shunryu Suzuki; the Western religious traditions of Augustine and Maimonides; the Persian Sufi tale Conference of the Birds; and contemporary research on mindfulness and creativity. Written in a clear, accessible style, Philosophies of Happiness invites readers of all backgrounds to explore and engage with religious and philosophical conceptions of what makes life meaningful. Visit https://cup.columbia.edu/extras/supplement/philosophies-of-happiness for additional appendixes and supplemental notes.

Author : Duane Armitage
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0593108825
Total Pages : 20 pages
Book Rating : 4.26/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Big Ideas for Little Philosophers: Happiness with Aristotle written by Duane Armitage and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the importance of happiness with the youngest readers in a wonderfully accessible way. Even little children have big questions about life. Finding happiness is a lifelong goal and Aristotle thought deeply about it. Why are we here? What is the best way to live a happy life? Having friends who are fun and adventurous is important, but it's also important to have true friends who will help us be good people and tell us when we're straying from that. He also believed we have to love ourselves in order to love others and be happy. This book will prompt readers to concentrate on what makes them happy and how they can be a good friend to others and themselves. Look for all six Big Ideas for Little Philosophers board books: Equality with Simone de Beauvoir, Truth with Socrates, Happiness with Aristotle, Imagination with René Descartes, Kindness with Confucius, Love with Plato, and Truth with Socrates.

Author : Nicholas P. White
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470798084
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Brief History of Happiness written by Nicholas P. White and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-06-09 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this brief history, philosopher Nicholas White reviews 2,500 years of philosophical thought about happiness. Addresses key questions such as: What is happiness? Should happiness play such a dominant role in our lives? How can we deal with conflicts between the various things that make us happy? Considers the ways in which major thinkers from antiquity to the modern day have treated happiness: from Plato’s notion of the harmony of the soul, through to Nietzsche’s championing of conflict over harmony. Relates questions about happiness to ethics and to practical philosophy.

Author : Sissela Bok
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300168438
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.33/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Exploring Happiness written by Sissela Bok and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the nature of happiness, discussing how it has been treated in philosophy and religion and by the modern disciplines of psychology, economics, and neurocience, and considers the place of individual happiness within the context of modern life.

Author : Øyvind Rabbås
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191064025
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Quest for the Good Life written by Øyvind Rabbås and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-10-08 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How should I live? How can I be happy? What is happiness, really? These are perennial questions, which in recent times have become the object of diverse kinds of academic research. Ancient philosophers placed happiness at the centre of their thought, and we can trace the topic through nearly a millennium. While the centrality of the notion of happiness in ancient ethics is well known, this book is unique in that it focuses directly on this notion, as it appears in the ancient texts. Fourteen papers by an international team of scholars map the various approaches and conceptions found from the Pre-Socratics through Plato, Aristotle, Hellenistic Philosophy, to the Neo-Platonists and Augustine in late antiquity. While not promising a formula that can guarantee a greater share in happiness to the reader, the book addresses questions raised by ancient thinkers that are still of deep concern to many people today: Do I have to be a morally good person in order to be happy? Are there purely external criteria for happiness such as success according to received social norms or is happiness merely a matter of an internal state of the person? How is happiness related to the stages of life and generally to time? In this book the reader will find an informed discussion of these and many other questions relating to happiness.

Author : Fred Feldman
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199571171
Total Pages : 303 pages
Book Rating : 4.78/5 ( download)

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Download or read book What Is This Thing Called Happiness? written by Fred Feldman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-03-18 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fred Feldman presents a study of the nature and value of happiness. He offers critical discussions of the main philosophical and psychological theories of happiness, and a presentation and defense of his own theory of happiness.

Author : Gary Cox
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350068470
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4.76/5 ( download)

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Download or read book How to Be an Existentialist written by Gary Cox and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-19 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 10th anniversary edition of a witty classic about the philosophy of existentialism. It is also a genuine self-help book offering clear advice on how to live according to the principles of existentialism formulated by Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, and the other great existentialist philosophers. An attack on contemporary excuse culture, the book urges us to face the hard existential truths of the human condition. By revealing that we are all inescapably free and responsible - 'condemned to be free,' as Sartre says - the book aims to empower the reader with a sharp sense that we are each the master of our own destiny. Cox makes fun of the reputation existentialism has for being gloomy and pessimistic, exposing it for what it really is - an honest, uplifting, and potentially life changing philosophy! This striking 10th anniversary edition with a substantial new preface includes more pointers on how to be a true existentialist, including how to be an existentialist at a time when environmental issues are becoming ever more pressing and our 'post-truth' world increasingly subjects us to the politically polarising power of simplistic social media.

Author : Nancy E. Snow
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135136114
Total Pages : 323 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Philosophy and Psychology of Character and Happiness written by Nancy E. Snow and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-05 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since ancient times, character, virtue, and happiness have been central to thinking about how to live well. Yet until recently, philosophers have thought about these topics in an empirical vacuum. Taking up the general challenge of situationism – that philosophers should pay attention to empirical psychology – this interdisciplinary volume presents new essays from empirically informed perspectives by philosophers and psychologists on western as well as eastern conceptions of character, virtue, and happiness, and related issues such as personality, emotion and cognition, attitudes and automaticity. Researchers at the top of their fields offer exciting work that expands the horizons of empirically informed research on topics central to virtue ethics.