On Happiness

Having a job, exercising, drinking less, making friends and being thin can apparently all make us happy. What is happiness? Why should we want it? How do we get it? Is there a science of happiness? These questions and more are at the heart of Caroline West 's lively philosophical examination of one of the oldest philosophical and psychological problems.

West distinguishes different kinds of happiness feeling happy, being a happy kind of person and having a happy or satisfying life before considering the different approaches to happiness belonging to Aristotle, Bentham, Mill and the Stoics as well as Buddhism. She then asks whether a happy life is sufficient for a good life, drawing on some fascinating examples from film and literature such as Barbarella and The Matrix and Brothers Karamazov and Brave New World. She also considers answers to the big question: what causes happiness and what are psychologists attempting to measure when they talk about subjective well-being

Drawing on a rich range of sources, On Happiness is an enlightening study of an intriguing and elusive concept.