Philosophy Seminar Series

Caroline West | Sydney University | Monday 3:30pm, 13 September, 2023

Happiness as a psychological good

Theories of happiness generally divide into those that analyse ‘happiness’ as a purely descriptive psychological term, and those that take ‘happiness’ to be an evaluative term roughly synonymous with ‘leading a good life.’ I argue that happiness is most accurately and usefully analysed as a fusion of these. Specifically, happiness is the psychological state, whatever it is, that we ought to seek for its own sake. Substantive first-order debates about the nature of happiness are then best understood as implicit disputes about exactly which of a range of semantically eligible states individuals have most prudential reason to pursue. I argue that this may vary (somewhat) from individual to individual and hence that happiness is differentially realizable: the nature of happiness may differ (somewhat) from person to person. This contrasts with orthodox ‘circumscriptionist’ analyses, according to which there is just one way to be happy.

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Hybrid Event
Philosophy Seminar Room (N494)

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Enquiries about the seminar series can be directed to ryan.cox@sydney.edu.au

Image: Photo by Micha Frank

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