Against happiness / Owen Flanagan, Joseph E. LeDoux, Bobby Bingle, Daniel M. Haybron, Batja Mesquita, Michele Moody-Adams, Songyao Ren, Anna Sun, Yolonda Y. Wilson ; with responses from critics, Jennifer A. Frey, Hazel Rose Markus, Jeffrey D. Sachs, and Jeanne L. Tsai.

Author/creator Flanagan, Owen author.
Format Book
PublicationNew York : Columbia University Press, [2023]
Descriptionxii, 345 pages ; 23 cm
Subjects
Well-being.
Happiness--Philosophy.
Economics--Psychological aspects.
Social policy--Psychological aspects.

Other author/creatorLeDoux, Joseph E., author.
Other author/creatorBingle, Bobby, author.
Other author/creatorHaybron, Daniel M., author.
Other author/creatorMesquita, Batja, author.
Other author/creatorMoody-Adams, Michele M., author.
Other author/creatorRen, Songyao, author.
Other author/creatorSun, Anna Xiao Dong, 1971- author.
Other author/creatorWilson, Yolanda Y., author.
Other author/creatorFrey, Jennifer A., editor.
Other author/creatorMarkus, Hazel Rose, editor.
Other author/creatorSachs, Jeffrey editor.
Other author/creatorTsai, Jeanne Ling, editor.
Abstract "It was hardly a surprise to philosophers or members of every religion in the world when economists announced in the 1970s that happiness was not correlated with rises in personal income or national GDP; their traditions had made this point for millennia. But it did prompt a response: the happiness agenda, a movement that endorses metrics indicating happiness and well-being as a guide to public policy, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network annual World Happiness Report. A surprising and unnerving 2021 Gallup report revealed that Americans are "thriving" at the highest levels ever measured-despite COVID, declining life expectancy, alarming rises in economic insecurity, political polarization, creeping authoritarianism, stress, and loneliness. This collection challenges the report's assumptions, investigating the nature of happiness and well-being in cross-cultural, multiracial contexts. It examines terminology, theoretical approaches, and measurement criteria; interpretations of self-reports; the sciences of emotion; the importance of culture; and racial and hermeneutic injustice, concluding that there are vast inter- and intracultural differences in ideas and theories about happiness but that all are socially based, culturally specific and normative-ethics-based-in contrast to standard indices and measurements, which are empirical snapshots of economic conditions. If subjective measures of well-being are to guide policy, they must presume a deep connection to social justice, and they work best if the causes of unhappiness and ill-being are identified and solutions to eliminate them are prioritized"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in other formOnline version : Flanagan, Owen J. Against happiness New York : Columbia University Press, 2023 9780231557962
LCCN 2022048474
ISBN9780231209496
ISBN9780231209489 hardcover
ISBN0231209487 hardcover
ISBN0231209495 paperback
ISBNelectronic book