Many people seek happiness for themselves and for others. In so doing, we are prone to make two assumptions: firstly, that happiness is a particular state of mind or being (though we may find it difficult to articulate precisely what this state is), and secondly, that attaining this state will necessarily improve our quality of life. But what if there is no such thing as happiness, so conceived? Caroline West considers how, paradoxically, the recognition that there is no particular state whose attainment necessarily enhances well-being may actually enhance our prospects of improving the quality of our lives.
Presented with the School of Philosophy, Monash University.
CAROLINE WEST (LOCAL) CAROLINE WEST is a senior lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sydney. She has taught and published widely on a range of topics in moral philosophy, applied and professional ethics, metaphysics (with a particular focus on questions of personal identity) and political philosophy. Her current research projects include a book on happiness to be published in 2010. Caroline teaches a popular course on the Philosophy of Happiness at the University of Sydney and has won numerous teaching awards. She is a member of the Council of the Australasian Association of Philosophy and on the editorial board of the Journal of Happiness Studies, a leading academic journal of interdisciplinary research on subjective well-being.
ALAN SAUNDERS (LOCAL) ALAN SAUNDERS studied philosophy at the University of Leicester and logic and scientific method at the London School of Economics. He came to Australia in 1981 to pursue a research doctorate in the History of Ideas Unit at the Australian National University. He has been a Frances Yates Research Fellow at the Warburg Institute of the University of London. Alan joined the Science Unit of ABC Radio National in 1987 and founded The Food Program. He is now presenter of The Philosopher’s Zone and By Design, a weekly program about architecture, design and food. Alan is the author of A is for Apple and his first novel, Alanna, was published in 2002. In 1992 he was awarded the Pascall Prize for critical writing and broadcasting.
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