The Virtues of Happiness
The Virtues of Happiness

Author: Paul Bloomfield

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-05

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0190612002

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As children, we learn life is unfair: bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. So, it is natural to ask, "Why play fairly in an unfair world? If being immoral will get you what you want and you know you can't get caught, why not do it?" The answers, as argued herein, begin by rejecting the idea that morality and happiness are at odds with one another. From this point of view, we can see how immorality undermines its perpetrator's happiness: self-respect is necessary for happiness, and immorality undermines self-respect. As we see how our self-respect is conditional upon how we respect others, we learn to evaluate and value ourselves, and others, appropriately. The central thesis is the result of combining the ancient Greek conception of happiness (eudaimonia) with a modern conception of self-respect. We become happy, we life the best life we can, only by becoming virtuous: by being as courageous, just, temperate, and wise as can be. These are the virtues of happiness. This book explains why it is bad to be bad and good to be good, and what happens to people's values as their practical rationality develops.

Happiness and Virtue Beyond East and West
Happiness and Virtue Beyond East and West

Author: Kevin Ryan

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2012-10-16

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 146290761X

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Discover global perspectives on happiness through this series of essays. Happiness and Virtue Beyond East and West presents an important series of essays from Japanese and American authors that examine essential virtues shared by both Eastern and Western cultures. Its ultimate goal is for happiness to be realized in a globally and socially responsible manner. Each chapter examines the importance of one of nine virtues Courage Justice Benevolence Gratitude Wisdom Reflection Respect Responsibility Temperance These essays demonstrate that the virtues and happiness associated with living a good life know no national boundaries. It is the sincere hope of the editors and authors that this book will help its readers re-examine the timeless question of what constitutes true happiness and will therefore play some part in increasing international cooperation and good will. Perfect for readers interested in transculturalism, Happiness and Virtue Beyond East and Westis a thorough examination of global perspectives on happiness.

Introducing Moral Theology
Introducing Moral Theology

Author: William C. III Mattison

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1441201904

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Whether in the cafeteria, classroom, or dorm lounge, questions abound on college campuses. Not only do students grapple with existential issues but they also struggle with ethical ones such as "Why be moral?" In Introducing Moral Theology, William Mattison addresses this question as well as grapples with the impact that religious belief has on day-to-day living. Structured in two parts, this unique text on Catholic moral theology covers cardinal virtues (temperance, prudence, fortitude, and justice) as well as theological virtues (faith, hope, and love). It is equipped with study questions, terms and their definitions, and illustrative case studies. Rooted in the Catholic tradition, this overview will also appeal to non-Catholics interested in virtue ethics.

Happiness and Virtue Ethics in Business
Happiness and Virtue Ethics in Business

Author: Alejo G. Sison

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 1107044634

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This book combines research in economics and psychology with Aristotelian virtue ethics to show why happiness is the ultimate value proposition for business.

The Morality of Happiness
The Morality of Happiness

Author: Julia Annas

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1993-08-19

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13: 9780198024163

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Ancient ethical theories, based on the notions of virtue and happiness, have struck many as an attractive alternative to modern theories. But we cannot find out whether this is true until we understand ancient ethics--and to do this we need to examine the basic structure of ancient ethical theory, not just the details of one or two theories. In this book, Annas brings together the results of a wide-ranging study of ancient ethical philosophy and presents it in a way that is easily accessible to anyone with an interest in ancient or modern ethics. She examines the fundamental notions of happiness and virtue, the role of nature in ethical justification and the relation between concern for self and concern for others. Her careful examination of the ancient debates and arguments shows that many widespread assumptions about ancient ethics are quite mistaken. Ancient ethical theories are not egoistic, and do not depend for their acceptance on metaphysical theories of a teleological kind. Most centrally, they are recognizably theories of morality, and the ancient disputes about the place of virtue in happiness can be seen as akin to modern disputes about the demands of morality.

Moral Reality
Moral Reality

Author: Paul Bloomfield

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2001-09-27

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0198031378

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We typically assume that the standard for what is beautiful lies in the eye of the beholder. Yet this is not the case when we consider morality; what we deem morally good is not usually a matter of opinion. Such thoughts push us toward being realists about moral properties, but a cogent theory of moral realism has long been an elusive philosophical goal. Paul Bloomfield here offers a rigorous defense of moral realism, developing an ontology for morality that models the property of being morally good on the property of being physically healthy. The model is assembled systematically; it first presents the metaphysics of healthiness and goodness, then explains our epistemic access to properties such as these, adds a complementary analysis of the semantics and syntax of moral discourse, and finishes with a discussion of how we become motivated to act morally. Bloomfield closely attends to the traditional challenges facing moral realism, and the discussion nimbly ranges from modern medical theory to ancient theories of virtue, and from animal navigation to the nature of normativity. Maintaining a highly readable style throughout, Moral Reality yields one of the most compelling theories of moral realism to date and will appeal to philosophers working on issues in metaphysics or moral philosophy.

Happiness for Humans
Happiness for Humans

Author: Daniel C. Russell

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2012-10-25

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0199583684

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Daniel C. Russell presents a new account of happiness and how to live a good life. He returns to the ancient tradition of eudaimonism to argue that happiness is a life of activity that involves acting for the sake of ends we can live for. It is not only fulfilling for us as humans and individuals, but inseparable from what makes us who we are.

Well-Being
Well-Being

Author: Neera K. Badhwar

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-06-02

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0199717338

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This book offers a new argument for the ancient claim that well-being as the highest prudential good -- eudaimonia --consists of happiness in a virtuous life. The argument takes into account recent work on happiness, well-being, and virtue, and defends a neo-Aristotelian conception of virtue as an integrated intellectual-emotional disposition that is limited in both scope and stability. This conception of virtue is argued to be widely held and compatible with social and cognitive psychology. The main argument of the book is as follows: (i) the concept of well-being as the highest prudential good is internally coherent and widely held; (ii) well-being thus conceived requires an objectively worthwhile life; (iii) in turn, such a life requires autonomy and reality-orientation, i.e., a disposition to think for oneself, seek truth or understanding about important aspects of one's own life and human life in general, and act on this understanding when circumstances permit; (iv) to the extent that someone is successful in achieving understanding and acting on it, she is realistic, and to the extent that she is realistic, she is virtuous; (v) hence, well-being as the highest prudential good requires virtue. But complete virtue is impossible for both psychological and epistemic reasons, and this is one reason why complete well-being is impossible.

Action, Contemplation, and Happiness
Action, Contemplation, and Happiness

Author: C. D. C. Reeve

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-03-12

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 0674065476

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The notion of practical wisdom is one of Aristotle's greatest inventions. It has inspired philosophers as diverse as Martin Heidegger, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Elizabeth Anscombe, Michael Thompson, and John McDowell. Now a leading scholar of ancient philosophy offers a challenge to received accounts of practical wisdom by situating it in the larger context of Aristotle's views on knowledge and reality. That happiness is the end pursued by practical wisdom is commonly agreed. What is disputed is whether happiness is to be found in the practical life of political action, in which we exhibit courage, temperance, and other virtues of character, or in the contemplative life, where theoretical wisdom is the essential virtue. C. D. C. Reeve argues that the dichotomy is bogus, that these lives are in fact parts of a single life, which is the best human one. In support of this view, he develops innovative accounts of many of the central notions in Aristotle's metaphysics, epistemology, and psychology, including matter and form, scientific knowledge, dialectic, educatedness, perception, understanding, political science, practical truth, deliberation, and deliberate choice. These accounts are based directly on freshly translated passages from many of Aristotle's writings. Action, Contemplation, and Happiness is an accessible essay not just on practical wisdom but on Aristotle's philosophy as a whole.