What is happiness and how do we attain it? It seems that a default answer–if not the default answer–to the question of happiness is: you do you. Or, put more precisely, happiness is an entirely subjective matter, on this account. And yet, the social sciences seem pretty consistently to point us to some key ingredients to a happy life and these seem to be true, whether we want them or not. Moreover, many of these are very much under our control. So it seems happiness cannot just be subjective; it seems you can be wrong about whether you’re happy. And it seems that whether or not you’re happy is largely up to you. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle would agree.
Such questions and ideas–drawing from both the social sciences and classical philosophy–have been central to the writing of Harvard Professor Arthur Brooks. This reading group will explore Brooks’ work in order to help us to think about what happiness is and how we can achieve and help others to achieve it. Along the way we’ll address questions such as:
- How do I build deeper friendships?
- Why should I contribute to my community?
- How can I have deeper satisfaction with my life?
- What makes for meaningful work?
- How do I find meaning?
All undergraduates, graduate, and medical students are welcome.
Email jprather@houstoninstitute.org to RSVP.
