Happiness Fall 2016 Study Questions

SEP 1

1. How does McMahon account for the emergence of the topic of well-being in Greek philosophy in relation to Greek culture?

2. How does the Symposium provide a model for Socrates or Plato's view of happiness?

3. How does Aristotle's analysis differ from Plato?

4. To what extent do our judgments about "real" or "superior" happiness (Pat vs. Lee) track Plato and Aristotle's emphasis on the contemplative life?

SEP 6

1. How do subjectivist and objectivist intuitions in theorizing about happiness vary?

2. How does the case of Jane, discussed by Vitrano, suggest a weakness of objectivism?

3. Under what circumstances would you "discount" the report of a friend, that he or she was happy?

4. What main theoretical possibilities follow from the variation in happiness that Haybron acknowledges?

5. Is happiness best thought of as a psychological state? Does that make Haybron a subjectivist?

SEP 8

1. Why is "nexting" important for the problem of happiness?

2. What do we learn from Phinneas Gage and brain science (in Gilbert Ch. 1) about the location of this capacity to imagine the future? Can you draw any conclusions or make any hypotheses from this knowledge?

3. How has the nature of happiness changed as a cultural ideal through the centuries marking the Roman Republic and Christian era up to Aquinas? What is the best way to describe these changes?

SEP 13

1. What are some of the key claims about pleasure and the causes of happiness in Haidt?

2. How can we raise questions about and develop the happiness formula in Haidt?

SEP 15

1. What is emotional state happiness, according to Haybron?

2. How does Gilbert raise doubts about our ability to compare happiness intersubjectively?

3. What is the point of the discussion of "language squishing" and "experience stretching"?

SEP 20

1. How does knowledge of the brain and evolutionary psychology shape our theorizing about happiness? Constrains? Implications?

2. How significant is the evidence that we do not always know how we feel? Why is that a problem for pursuing and measuring happiness?

3. How does the law of large numbers resolve some of the variations in objectivity of self-reports?

SEP 22

1. What are some of the main causal factors of Happiness? Give examples of the complexity of ascribing causes to correlations.

2. What is the Network Theory of Happiness?

SEP 27

1. What methodological problems occurs in transnational happiness research? How serious are they?

2. How do national group vary in their self-reported happiness? How well do the theories summarized by Diener & Suh account for that?

3. How does the "inclusive approach" offered by Bishop respond to problems with the traditional approach to studying happiness?

SEP 29

1. How does the distinction between realism and idealism complicate the problem of happiness?

2. Can life satisfaction judgments really be divorced from assessments of happiness?

NOV 22

• Thanksgiving Week: Optional Meeting Time