Research Commons
      • Browse 
        • Communities & Collections
        • Titles
        • Authors
        • By Issue Date
        • Subjects
        • Types
        • Series
      • Help 
        • About
        • Collection Policy
        • OA Mandate Guidelines
        • Guidelines FAQ
        • Contact Us
      • My Account 
        • Sign In
        • Register
      View Item 
      •   Research Commons
      • University of Waikato Research
      • Arts and Social Sciences
      • Arts and Social Sciences Papers
      • View Item
      •   Research Commons
      • University of Waikato Research
      • Arts and Social Sciences
      • Arts and Social Sciences Papers
      • View Item
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

      Western historical traditions of well-being

      Michalos, Alex C.; Weijers, Dan M.
      Thumbnail
      Files
      Western Historical Traditions of Well-Being Michalos and Weijers Last author version.pdf
      Submitted version, 468.3Kb
      DOI
       10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_2
      Find in your library  
      Citation
      Export citation
      Michalos, A. C., & Weijers, D. M. (2017). Western historical traditions of well-being. In The Pursuit of Human Well-Being The Untold Global History (pp. 31–57). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_2
      Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/10888
      Abstract
      This chapter provides a brief historical overview of Western philosophical views about well-being from the eighth century before the Common Era to the middle of the twentieth century. We explain different understandings of the concept of well-being, including our preferred understanding of well-being as the subjective states and objective conditions that make our lives go well for us. Although this review is necessarily incomplete, we discuss some of the most salient and influential contributions to our subject. To that end, we cover some key views from ancient Greece, including the aristocratic values that were considered central to leading a good life, notions of personal and more expansive harmony as they key to well-being, and the idea that the experience of pleasure is all we should really care about. We also explain some of the major religious conceptions of the good life and their progression through the Middle Ages and beyond. We further consider more recent secular conceptions of well-being, including several views on the importance of personal and public happiness. Finally, we discuss views to the effect that happiness is not enough for the good life and that we should strive for loftier goals.
      Date
      2017-01-09
      Type
      Chapter in Book
      Publisher
      Springer International Publishing
      Rights
      © 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland.This is the author's accepted version. The final publication is available at Springer via dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39101-4_2
      Collections
      • Arts and Social Sciences Papers [1423]
      Show full item record  

      Usage

      Downloads, last 12 months
      132
       
       
       

      Usage Statistics

      For this itemFor all of Research Commons

      The University of Waikato - Te Whare Wānanga o WaikatoFeedback and RequestsCopyright and Legal Statement