Fall 2012 Happiness Class Study Questions and Answers

Return to Happiness

August 30, 2012

1. Distinguish the Greek philosophical conceptions of happiness in Plato and Aristotle from the Greek cultural conception of happiness.

2. What is Plato's view of happiness?

3. What is Aristotle's view of happiness?

4. How can one use ordinary reflection on experiences of happiness to start theoretical reflection?

September 4, 2012

1. Follow major concepts introduced by Haidt, such as: adaptation, hedonic treadmill, set point theory, maximizers vs. satisficers.

2. Why doesn't one adapt to the happiness effect of cosmetic surgery?

3. What is Haidt's happiness formula and how might if be justified given his perspective?

4. What are "top down and bottom up theories" of LS? How do researchers try to assess this, according to Schimmack?

5. What are some explanations of the independence of NA and PA, according to Schimmack?

September 6, 2012

1. What are some of the major correlations and causes of happiness, according to Argyle? 2. What are some of the difficulties in studying happiness across nations, according to Diener and Suh? 3. What are some of the broad differences in SWB and how are they explained causally, according to Diener and Suh?

September 11, 2012

1. Identify and discuss some of the features of our evolved brain that complicate the problem of happiness.

September 13, 2012

1. Identify some of the features and reference points of the classical conception of happiness in the Roman Empire. How do they connect or fail to connect with classical Greek and Hellenistic conceptions? (add later)

2. What's different about the Early Christian conception of happiness? How is this reflected in the narrative of Perpetua and Felicitas?

3. What is the basic model of happiness in Yogic thought, as explicated by Barbara Miller?

4. Identify the significance of samadhi, the kleshas, the gunas, Arjuna's conversation with Krisna, the brahmavihara.

September 18, 2012

1. Explain the four noble truths.

2. What are the consequence of success in following the Eight fold path? Evaluate, from your own perspective, the kind of life this would result in.

3. Is the Buddhist prescription for ending suffering also an attractive model for happiness, in your opinion?

September 20, 2012

1. Reconstruct and evaluate Epicurus' view of pleasure, virtue, and happiness.

2. Reconstruct and evaluate Epictetus advice for living. What is the relationship of this advice to happiness?

September 25, 2012

1. What are the rationales for negative visualization? Assess it's likely effectiveness.

2. What problem leads Irvine to the trichotomy of control? Does his solution work?

October 2, 2012

1. How does Chritian culture of the renaissance and reformation rethink and revise the tradition understanding of the relation of happiness and earthly existence captured in the idea of "contemptus mundi"?

2. How does Locke's view of the mind alter assumptions about the search for happiness?

3. What approaches to and critiques of happiness do we find in Enlightenment British and French culture? How does the question about the nature of happiness change in European culture during this time?

4. What evidence do we have, according to Gilbert, of the importance of control in people's wellbeing?

5. What's important about the prefrontal lobe for the pursuit of happiness, according to Gilbert?

October 4, 2012

1. Identify some of Gilbert's evidence for doubting the reliability of subjective reports of happiness.

2. How does the plausibility of "language squishing" and "experience stretching" hypotheses affect our sense of the reliability of subjective reports of happiness?

3. What evidence does Gilbert identify for claiming that we might not always know what we're feeling?

4. Where does the evidence and theorizing about objectivity in Chapters 2 and 3 leave us? How does the law of large numbers help? What, if any, problems remain?