UPDATE, Feb. 26: Here's a more direct link to our Week 1 reading assignment, "On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings" by William James.
The Connection Between Liberal Arts and Well-Being
Block 2 - 2/12 and 19 Yang Kim
Block 3 - 2/26 and 3/5 Phil Oliver - The Philosophy of Well-Being *
Block 4 - 3/19 and 26 Francis Koti
Block 5 - 4/2 and 9 Angela Mertig
Block 6 - 4/16 and 23 Kate Goodwin
The Philosophy of Well-Being
Philosophers since antiquity have concerned themselves with the pursuit of happiness and human flourishing, which (along with physical and mental health) substantially comprise "well-being" as most of us conceive it.
Philosophers since antiquity have concerned themselves with the pursuit of happiness and human flourishing, which (along with physical and mental health) substantially comprise "well-being" as most of us conceive it.
William James said "If we were to ask the question: What is human life's chief concern? one of the answers we should receive would be: It is happiness. How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness, is in fact for most people at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure."
And he once advised an ailing friend: "Keep your health, your splendid health. It is better than all the truths under the firmament."
In this block we'll discuss what philosophers like James have said about well-being as our chief concern.
Grade distribution (to total 15% of the overall course grade or 150/1000 points) - 50% participation (attendance, blog posts on the CoPhilosophy site); 50% report presentation-Week 2.
The Connection Between Liberal Arts and Well-Being: Liberal arts education encompasses various disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, and the arts, which contribute to a well-rounded understanding of human experiences. This holistic approach helps individuals develop critical thinking and empathy, essential for personal and societal well-being.
The Connection Between Liberal Arts and Well-Being: Liberal arts education encompasses various disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, and the arts, which contribute to a well-rounded understanding of human experiences. This holistic approach helps individuals develop critical thinking and empathy, essential for personal and societal well-being.
The liberal arts significantly contribute to well-being by equipping individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to understand and address complex human issues. By fostering critical thinking, cultural awareness, and emotional intelligence, liberal arts education prepares individuals to lead fulfilling lives and positively impact their communities. These skills are crucial for navigating life's challenges and fostering resilience, which are key components of well-being. They offer not just tools for work, but tools for life.
This interdisciplinary approach is essential in today's fast-paced world, where holistic well-being is increasingly recognized as vital for personal and societal health. The connection between well-being and the liberal arts is a powerful one, rooted in the idea that education is not just about acquiring job skills, but about becoming a thoughtful, reflective, and flourishing human being.
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* For what it's worth, chatGPT's overly-ambitious suggestions:
You said:
ChatGPT said:
This sounds like a wonderful block—especially in a MALA context, where you can move fluidly between historical, existential, and practical dimensions of well-being.
Since Week 1 sets the conceptual and interpretive framework for student presentations in Week 2, I’d suggest structuring it around three layers:
A classic American philosophical voice (James)
A concise conceptual map of the field
A contrasting or complicating perspective on happiness/well-being
Below is a curated set of suggestions, organized by role in the syllabus.
Core Anchor: William James
1. William James – “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings” (1899)
Excellent choice.
Why it works:
Introduces pluralism about values and well-being.
Undermines moralistic and elitist accounts of the good life.
Emphasizes sympathy and the opacity of others’ goods.
Pairs beautifully with contemporary debates about subjective vs. objective accounts of well-being.
You might frame it with questions such as:
- Does James defend subjectivism about well-being?
- Is well-being plural and perspectival?
- What role does “recognition” play in human flourishing?
2. James – “The Moral Equivalent of War” (optional pairing)
This essay complements Blindness by connecting individual vitality with collective purpose and discipline. It raises the question:
Does well-being require struggle? Is comfort the enemy of flourishing?
If you prefer something more psychological, an excerpt from The Varieties of Religious Experience (e.g., “The Sick Soul” vs. “The Healthy-Minded”) would deepen the conversation about health, optimism, and tragic consciousness.
Concise Overview of the Field
3. Daniel Haybron – Happiness: A Very Short Introduction
Excellent for conceptual scaffolding.
Particularly useful sections:
Distinction between happiness and life satisfaction
Emotional condition vs. evaluative judgment
Critique of “life satisfaction” metrics
Students will benefit from:
Clear taxonomy (hedonism, desire-satisfaction, objective list theories)
Introduction to measurement debates
Classical Foundations (Short Excerpts)
Even in an American-focused block, grounding in antiquity clarifies the tradition James inherits.
4. Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics, Book I (selections on eudaimonia)
Why:
Establishes flourishing as activity in accordance with virtue.
Provides a non-hedonic model of well-being.
Useful contrast to modern psychological accounts.
Even 10–15 pages would suffice.
A Pragmatist Expansion
5. John Dewey – Excerpt from Human Nature and Conduct
Dewey reframes well-being in terms of:
This keeps the focus distinctly American and ties well-being to education and civic life—very appropriate for a Liberal Arts course.
A Contemporary American Voice
6. Martha Nussbaum – Excerpt from Creating Capabilities or “Capabilities and Human Rights”
Though not a pragmatist, she offers:
A robust objective-list theory
A bridge between philosophy and public policy
A framework for thinking about health and human dignity
This will give students options for their Week 2 reports (e.g., capabilities vs. happiness metrics).
Existential / Psychological Depth
Why:
Establishes flourishing as activity in accordance with virtue.
Provides a non-hedonic model of well-being.
Useful contrast to modern psychological accounts.
Even 10–15 pages would suffice.
A Pragmatist Expansion
5. John Dewey – Excerpt from Human Nature and Conduct
Dewey reframes well-being in terms of:
- Habit formation
- Growth as an ongoing process
- Democratic and social dimensions of flourishing
This keeps the focus distinctly American and ties well-being to education and civic life—very appropriate for a Liberal Arts course.
A Contemporary American Voice
6. Martha Nussbaum – Excerpt from Creating Capabilities or “Capabilities and Human Rights”
Though not a pragmatist, she offers:
A robust objective-list theory
A bridge between philosophy and public policy
A framework for thinking about health and human dignity
This will give students options for their Week 2 reports (e.g., capabilities vs. happiness metrics).
Existential / Psychological Depth
7. Ralph Waldo Emerson – “Self-Reliance” (selections)
Emerson enriches:
- Individual authenticity
- Non-conformity as flourishing
- The moral psychology of independence
He pairs beautifully with James’ pluralism.
Alternative American Perspective
8. Henry David Thoreau – Selections from Walden
Especially chapters on:
Raises the question:
Is simplicity essential to well-being?
A Useful Structure for Week 1
You might assign:
Primary Text
James, “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings”
Conceptual Overview
Haybron, selected chapters
Philosophical Counterpoint (choose one)
Aristotle (virtue model)
Dewey (growth model)
Nussbaum (capabilities model)
Emerson (authenticity model)
That keeps the load reasonable but conceptually rich.
Framing Questions for Week 1 Discussion
You might structure discussion around these tensions:
Is happiness primarily:
Especially chapters on:
- Economy
- Solitude
- Higher Laws
Raises the question:
Is simplicity essential to well-being?
A Useful Structure for Week 1
You might assign:
Primary Text
James, “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings”
Conceptual Overview
Haybron, selected chapters
Philosophical Counterpoint (choose one)
Aristotle (virtue model)
Dewey (growth model)
Nussbaum (capabilities model)
Emerson (authenticity model)
That keeps the load reasonable but conceptually rich.
Framing Questions for Week 1 Discussion
You might structure discussion around these tensions:
Is happiness primarily:
- A feeling?
- A judgment?
- A way of living?
- A moral achievement?
- Can someone be happy but not flourishing?
- Is well-being subjective, objective, or plural?
- Does health ground happiness—or is it only instrumental?
- Is suffering compatible with well-being?
Additional Optional American Thinkers (For Student Presentations)
If you want to seed ideas for Week 2:
William James – health and vitality
Jonathan Edwards – religious happiness
Josiah Royce – loyalty and community
Cornel West – prophetic pragmatism and hope
Laurence Thomas – moral psychology and respect
If you want to seed ideas for Week 2:
William James – health and vitality
Jonathan Edwards – religious happiness
Josiah Royce – loyalty and community
Cornel West – prophetic pragmatism and hope
Laurence Thomas – moral psychology and respect
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Also available for Week 2 report presentations:
- "I am an American philosopher" - interviews with contemporary philosophers in the pragmatic tradition (pick 2 or 3 to tell us about)
- William James Society - letters from the President, and other content
- The School of Life - short videos on historical philosophers and ideas (pick 2 or 3 to show us, and discuss
- Little History of Philosophy -tell us about 2 or 3 philosophers and their ideas about well-being.
- Any of the books I've placed on 3-day reserve at the library (see the right sidebar on my CoPhi site).
- Anything else of interest to you (and pertaining to philosophy and well-being/happiness/flourishing) that you find in the library, or online (at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, for instance), or on any of my sites.
- Chapter II, Blindness and Optimism, in William James's 'Springs of Delight': the Return to Life (in the library, not on reserve... or I can lend you a copy)
I see that no one has commented on "On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings" yet, perhaps because the link I provided was indirect (you needed to scroll down to the essay). Here's a better link (copy & paste it): https://monadnock.net/james/blindness.html
ReplyDeleteIn the essay On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings, William James reveals how a person is usually not able to comprehend what other people feel or experience. He contends that people tend to make value or meaning judgments only on their emotions and individual views. Due to this fact, individuals may turn into blind individuals, ignorant of what is important or significant in the lives of other people. James uses the example of land that had been cleared by settlers. The area to him appeared to be damaged and unappealing whereas to the settlers it was a symbol of hard work, hope and the chance to make a better life. This example demonstrates that the same situation can mean a lot in relation to the individual who is going through it. On the whole, James urges his readers to be more receptive and to acknowledge that there are other individuals who might find value and purpose in things that we seem not to initially comprehend.
DeleteI enjoyed this reading. I definitely agree with much of what he's saying in the importance of looking outside of ourselves and understanding our own inner world isn't the only one that matters. Recognizing this facilitates our ability to empathize and live with each other in a society. The part about the log clearing really stuck with me though. The ability to hold space and be tolerant to the families pride and position are great. However, looking beyond the aesthetic aspect, the consideration for a place to grow old, and to consider the future generation I would say is somewhat more important that ones immediate sense of pride. My question to that moment is, how do we attend to our immediate needs while also being good ancestors?
ReplyDeleteO I forgot to put my name in my comment above!
DeleteRight, it would’ve been easier to appreciate the loggers’ perspective in the 1890s… before we had our collective environmental consciousness (and conscience) raised. Not that “we” all have had, unfortunately.
DeleteI found the reading to have a depth to it that normally works of philosophy do not have the pull to keep me reading. The writer made it clear that the “character” he was writing as was very set in his viewpoint, and when he finally did reflect outwards and see it a different way (that where he saw people squandering nature’s beauty others saw triumph in what they created), he understood more about not only the people around him but himself too. It reminded me of a discussion we had in the first part of the course (last semester) where we discussed a Ted talk by Karen Faith on how to talk to the worst parts of yourself. I think both provide insight and would be interesting to dig deeper into. - Faith smith
ReplyDeleteThe “worst parts” being the close-minded dogmatic ones, in this instance. That’s the blindness James is talking about, blindness to the interior subjective ways of others. We don’t have to agree with that perspectives, But we should acknowledge that those who disagree with us usually are not just being willfully belligerent or obtuse. They too, are pursuing happiness, as are we. A true philosophy of well-being must make that acknowledgment about other people.
DeleteI understand the author's point that a spectator's opinion or views can be a lesser form of judgement on someone's life or circumstances. However, I do not believe that this is true one hundred percent of the time. For instance, there is some truth to the quote "we are bound to believe that the truer side is the side that feels the more, and not the side that feels the less.” From this portion of the essay, I perceive the author is saying that in a conflicting situation, the individual with the most emotional investment and/or actively going through the experience is closer to the truth than the other. However, there are many instances that this can be the opposite. Emotional vulnerability can change an individuals actions and mental state as they are deeply emotionally intertwined in a situation. Sometimes the spectators view or opinions are closer to the truth by providing an unbiased view. Also, it can beneficial to use a spectators view, as an emotionally overcome individual, for the same reason. Examples such as, abusive relationships or toxic work environments. I believe the majority of difficult, life altering decisions, depend on spectator views for grounding, unbiased listening and opinions.
ReplyDeletePhilosophy of (more) Happiness Blog
ReplyDelete“The Epicureans knew this too” Blog post
I have always been very intrigued by this topic. On weekends, or consecutive days when I spend extended time alone, I begin to have this odd feeling described in this post. It is not a heavy feeling, but one that feels as though something is lacking. This feeling is much deeper than boredom, almost as if I am telling myself “I should be doing something right now”. The feeling mostly comes in waves. In these moments, I try to remind myself that relaxation and recovery are perfectly normal and needed for everyone. However, these words do not always matter, as this feeling grows more intense. With intensity, I feel as though I need to do better, even more in my life. Ultimately, other emotions become prominent as well, such as sadness, loneliness, and anxiety. Though, the mentioned Harvard study seems to be an important material to decipher how to move forward with less interruption from this feeling. I would love to learn more about the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This scientific investigation could provide real examples of what live events and relationships aided and diminished happiness for individuals throughout their lives. I feel that this information is essential to better understand the emotions of others, but myself as well.