How and How Not to Be Happy
It’s Time to Start Asking the Right Questions About Happiness

The West is facing a happiness crisis. Today, less than a quarter of American adults rate themselves as very happy—a record low. False views of happiness abound, and the explosion in “happiness studies” has done little to dispel them. Why is true happiness so elusive, and why is it so hard to define?

In How and How Not to Be Happy, internationally renowned philosopher and happiness theorist, J. Budziszewski, draws on decades of study to dispel the myths and wishful thinking that blind people from uncovering lasting fulfillment.

Could happiness lie in health, wealth, responsibility, or pleasure? Should we settle for imperfect happiness? What would it even mean to attain perfect fulfillment? Budziszewski separates the wheat from the chaff, exploring how to attain happiness—and just as importantly, how not to.
1139308217
How and How Not to Be Happy
It’s Time to Start Asking the Right Questions About Happiness

The West is facing a happiness crisis. Today, less than a quarter of American adults rate themselves as very happy—a record low. False views of happiness abound, and the explosion in “happiness studies” has done little to dispel them. Why is true happiness so elusive, and why is it so hard to define?

In How and How Not to Be Happy, internationally renowned philosopher and happiness theorist, J. Budziszewski, draws on decades of study to dispel the myths and wishful thinking that blind people from uncovering lasting fulfillment.

Could happiness lie in health, wealth, responsibility, or pleasure? Should we settle for imperfect happiness? What would it even mean to attain perfect fulfillment? Budziszewski separates the wheat from the chaff, exploring how to attain happiness—and just as importantly, how not to.
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How and How Not to Be Happy

How and How Not to Be Happy

by J. Budziszewski
How and How Not to Be Happy

How and How Not to Be Happy

by J. Budziszewski

Hardcover

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Overview

It’s Time to Start Asking the Right Questions About Happiness

The West is facing a happiness crisis. Today, less than a quarter of American adults rate themselves as very happy—a record low. False views of happiness abound, and the explosion in “happiness studies” has done little to dispel them. Why is true happiness so elusive, and why is it so hard to define?

In How and How Not to Be Happy, internationally renowned philosopher and happiness theorist, J. Budziszewski, draws on decades of study to dispel the myths and wishful thinking that blind people from uncovering lasting fulfillment.

Could happiness lie in health, wealth, responsibility, or pleasure? Should we settle for imperfect happiness? What would it even mean to attain perfect fulfillment? Budziszewski separates the wheat from the chaff, exploring how to attain happiness—and just as importantly, how not to.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781684511075
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date: 03/01/2022
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

J. Budziszewski is a professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas. He is the author of nineteen books including What We Can’t Not Know: A Guide, On the Meaning of Sex, How and How Not to Be Happy, How to Stay Christian in College, and a series of line-by-line commentaries on pivotal sections of Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, including the Treatise on Law.

Table of Contents

Preface xv

Part 1 Getting Started 1

Chapter 1 Why Is How to Be Happy or Fulfilled Even a Question? 3

Chapter 2 How Not to Find the Answer to the Question-and How to Find It 11

Chapter 3 What We All Mean by Happiness-Whatever It Is 19

Part 2 Getting On with It 27

Chapter 4 Could Wealth Be Happiness? 29

Chapter 5 Could Bodily Health or Beauty Be Happiness? 37

Chapter 6 Could Fame or Sheer Notice Be Happiness? 47

Chapter 7 Could Glory or Praise Be Happiness? 55

Chapter 8 Could Loving or Esteeming Ourselves Be Happiness? 63

Chapter 9 Could Power or Responsibility Be Happiness? 71

Chapter 10 Could Pleasure or Delight Be Happiness? 79

Chapter 11 Could Painlessness or Annihilation Be Happiness? 87

Chapter 12 Could Meaning or Commitment Be Happiness? 95

Chapter 13 Could Love or Friendship Be Happiness? 103

Chapter 14 Could Virtue Be Happiness? 111

Chapter 15 Does It All Come Down to Luck? 119

Chapter 16 Could Anything in This World Be Happiness? 127

Chapter 17 The Imperfect Happiness to Which These Reflections Point 137

Part 3 Starting Over 141

Chapter 18 Why Shouldn't We Settle for Imperfect Happiness? 143

Chapter 19 Is Happiness Something We Feel We Have, or We Do? 149

Chapter 20 If Happiness Is Something We Do, Then What Activity Is It? 157

Chapter 21 Can We Do It on Our Own? 167

Chapter 22 Could We Ever Do It on Our Own? 175

Chapter 23 What Kind of Help Would We Need? 183

Chapter 24 How Can We Get That Help? 191

Chapter 25 The Paradoxes of Perfect Fulfillment 199

Acknowledgements 207

Notes 209

Index 227

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