Philosophies of Happiness: A Comparative Introduction to the Flourishing Life

Diana Lobel

Published by Columbia University Press 2017

Philosophies of Happiness

A Comparative Introduction to the Flourishing Life

Diana Lobel

https://doi.org/10.7312/lobe18410

Overview
Contents

About this book

Philosophies of Happiness provides a rich spectrum of arguments for a theory of happiness as flourishing, offering a global, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary perspective on how to create a vital, fulfilling, and significant life. Diana Lobel brings together perspectives from a broad range of philosophical traditions—Eastern and Western, ancient and contemporary—to show that, while thick descriptions of happiness differ widely, certain themes resonate across texts from different places and times, suggesting core features of a happy life. Happiness is the healthy and flourishing condition of the whole human being, and we experience the most complete happiness when we realize our potential through creative engagement.

Philosophies of Happiness provides a global, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary perspective on how to create a fulfilling life. Diana Lobel brings together a broad range of philosophical traditions—Eastern and Western, ancient and contemporary—to show that certain themes resonate across texts, suggesting core features of a happy life.

Author / Editor information

Diana Lobel is associate professor of religion at Boston University. She is the author of Between Mysticism and Philosophy: Sufi Language of Religious Experience in Judah Ha-Levi's Kuzari (2000), A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue: Philosophy and Mysticism in Bahya Ibn Paqūda’s Duties of the Heart (2006), and The Quest for God and the Good: World Philosophy as a Living Experience (Columbia, 2011).

Reviews

John D. Dunne, University of Wisconsin–Madison, author of Foundations of Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy:
Informative, innovative, and timely, Diana Lobel’s Philosophies of Happiness engagingly examines a broad range of perspectives—encompassing the ancient Greeks, key Asian traditions, and central figures in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—to conclude with more contemporary approaches such as mindfulness. On Lobel’s model, “the first building block of a life of happiness is attentive awareness.” This keen insight underlies not only her approach to flourishing but also the very spirit of this outstanding book.

Ithamar Theodor, author of Exploring the Bhagavad Gītā: Philosophy, Structure, and Meaning:
Diana Lobel's Philosophies of Happiness: A Comparative Introduction to the Flourishing Life is a long-awaited contribution to comparative philosophy and religion. In considering how happiness has been conceived in different cultures, she investigates traditions from Aristotle, Augustine, and Maimonides to Confucianism, Daoism, the Bhagavad Gītā, and Japanese Zen Buddhism. This book is a major contribution to the emerging fields of world philosophy and global ethics.

Erin M. Cline, Georgetown University:
I know of no other work that engages so many traditions comparatively; this work stands to make a significant contribution to our understanding of happiness across different religious and philosophical traditions.

Philip J. Ivanhoe, City University of Hong Kong:
An impressive comparative study of conceptions of happiness found in East Asian, South Asian, and Western traditions of thought that will be read with interest by a wide range of scholars in religious studies, philosophy, and psychology.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
One Aristotle: The Life of Engaged Activity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
Two Epicurus: Happiness Is Pleasure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	42
Three Confucian Happiness: Ritual, Humaneness, Music, and Joy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Four Daoism: Attentive Awareness and Effortless Ease of Action (Wu-Wei) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
Five The Bhagavad Gītā: Non-attached Action and the Universal Spirit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Six St. Augustine: The Happy Life of the Soul Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
Seven Maimonides: The Joy of Learning, Prayer, and Devotion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Eight The Sufi Path of Love in ʿAṭṭār’s Conference of the Birds Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
Nine Mindfulness, East and West Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
Ten Dōgen’s Sōtō Zen and Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	234
Eleven Creative Engagement and the Art of Living Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	345
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	375

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: July 9, 2018
ISBN: 9780231545327