Contribution to Book
This book won't make you happy
On happiness: new ideas for the twenty-first century
(2015)
Abstract
Happiness is often said to be a transparent emotion: you know
it when you feel it. But if you think a little further about the
problems it evokes – in politics, philosophy and economics –
happiness turns out to be something of a paradox. Indeed, happiness
has been characterised as both an illusion and delusion; a
shimmering dream; but also as a physical state that can be medically
verified using a range of neurological indicators. It is an
ideal that encapsulates everything that is worthy and desirable,
but is also a lucrative commodity to be bought and sold, earning
millions of dollars for motivational gurus on the self-help circuit.
In Western societies, happiness has come to be regarded as
something of a right; it has been enshrined in legal and political
documents. And while it is commonly presented as an object of
universal striving, it is equally an idea with a history that can be
located within a specific time and place, with distinct cultural
and temporal variations.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2015
Editor
Camilla Nelson, Deborah Pike and Georgina Ledvinka
Publisher
The University of Western Australia
ISBN
9781742586076
Citation Information
Nelson, C., and Pike, D. (2015). This book won't make you happy. In C. Nelson, D. Pike and G. Ledvinka (eds), On happiness: new ideas for the twenty-first century. The University of Western Australia: Crawley, WA, p. 1-16