The Pursuit of Happiness and the Traditions of Wisdom

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Preface

Human happiness as a research topic in social sciences has a long history and has
been in constant growth in the last four decades. Why another volume on happi-
ness then? I am strongly convinced that the answer this time is in the things, it is
in the various contributions offered in this volume where a number of scholars in
sociology and economics met together in a Conference in a Department of Torino
University, originated and inspired by the International Day of Happiness on
20 March 2012, promoted by the United Nations. The initiative was first to take
this date as a point of reference to develop an interdisciplinary discussion, consid-
ering various scientific points of view, within the large domain of social sciences
and paying attention to other scientific fields such as neuro-sciences.
And we have in fact a recall to happiness as an everlasting question, where
ancient wisdom could give some help in current times, even though differences
are to be taken into consideration when considering empirical data and results
from social research, as presented in the field survey on happiness, satisfaction and
well-being.
Another inspiring and suggestive outlook stems from the consideration of happiness
as a constructed reality, where current scientific paradigms are put in question by
a kind of renewed capacity of ancient traditions to propose social practices use-
ful to develop new tools of inquiry more adequate to human feelings and humana
conditio.
The volume aims at signing a conspicuous point of reference for a new aware-
ness of what and how social and economic research could contribute to ameliorate
the human condition, trying to supersede the separation too often present between
the researcher (the scientist!) and its object, the humans, considered in their singular,
different and self-constructing arts of living.

October 2013 Marina Nuciari

v
Acknowledgments

My sincere gratitude to Prof. Pietro Terna who greatly contributed towards making
possible the Conference from which this book has its origin. I wish also to remind
the encouragement and support received from Prof. Marina Nuciari.

Vincenzo Giorgino

vii
Contents

1 Classic Wisdom About Ways to Happiness: How Does

It Apply Today?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Classic Views on Ways to Happiness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 How to Assess Applicability Today? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Results of Applicability Checks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.1 Way of the Warrior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.2 Way of the Merchant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.3 Way of the Philosopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.4 Way of the Peasant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.5 Way of the Monk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.6 In Sum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.5 More Appropriate in the Past?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

2 More Terminological and Methodological Problems in

Measuring Happiness, Life Satisfaction and Well-Being:
Some First Empirical Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Terminological Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Methodological Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 A Research on Happiness, Life Satisfaction and
Well-Being in Piedmont. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.5 Some First Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3 Happiness-Freedom: Who Suffers? From Dukkha to Samadhi. . . . . . 23

Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ix
x Contents

4 Happiness, Dharma and Economics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.2 Sanatana Dharma and Swadharma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.3 Dharma and Mainstream Economics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.4 Happiness, Dharma and Economic Policies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

5 Happiness Is an Art of Living: Towards a Contemplative

Perspective on Economy as Relational Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.2 Traditions of Wisdom and Contemplative
Knowledge/Practices Today. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5.2.1 On Methods and Methodologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2.2 The Affective Base of Choice and the Function of Attention. . . 56
5.3 Economy as Relational Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3.1 Sharing Meanings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.4 Towards the Homo Sentiens Model: Greater Wisdom
for a Greater Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.4.1 It’s Not All About ‘Character’: Opening the Black Box . . . . 65
5.4.2 Contemplative Work: The Art of Dealing with Suffering . . . 67
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Introduction

The astonishing increase in research on happiness and well-being since the 1970s
(Veenhoven, in this book) is a sign of scholars’ growing sensibility toward a goal
that is incessantly positioned at the centre of any sentient human being’s life.
There is a general agreement that in handling issues such as happiness and
well-being, sooner or later, one encounters the traditions of wisdom and their vari-
ous interpretations of the matter. Whatever the scholars’ point of view, this seems
to be an appointment that cannot be missed. The contemporary formulations of
these traditions and the discussion about their effectiveness is the captivating issue
of this book.1 Being more specific, its aim is to answer one main question: are they
helpful in understanding well-being and its pursuit at an individual and societal
level?
Luckily, as we live in a doubt-driven, scientifically laden world, this question
implies a number of sub-questions, to make those traditions, their language and
methods, understandable for us and available to scientific inquiry. This is also why
all the contributors, more or less, deal with some methodological issues.
However, due to the same limits of the current dominant paradigm in science,
the debate shows the emergence of these traditions in an almost unexpected light,
achieving what 30 years ago was unthinkable or non-predictable: the legitimation
and diffusion of secular practices originally born in a religious background. In
other words, they are designed for the lay sentient being, whatever the medium
they wear in the interactional situation—marketed services (the Yoga centre
around the corner), state service provisions (a health promotion mindfulness-based
programme in the secondary school) and voluntary organized services (a non-
profit association offering an intensive meditation retreat for inmates).2

1
This book is a re-elaboration of the presentations to the First VIS Conference “Economic and
Social Suffering: From Awareness to Human Flourishing” for the International Day of Happiness
held in Torino on 20 March 2013 at the Department of Economic and Social Sciences, Mathematics
and Statistics, University of Torino.
2
It is worthy of note that in the past, some traditions regulated the economic relationship between
practitioner and contemplative teacher through the dana (gift)—a term (Pali and Sanskrit) indicating
generosity as intention and act; in Mahayana Buddhism it is one of the six paramitas, the precious
qualities cultivated in the pathway to enlightenment.

xi
xii Introduction

This book is clearly oriented to embrace these challenges and the answers pro-
vided to these questions are offered by scholars with different points of view about
the possibility of the effectiveness of these traditions.
As I have no presumption to resume the arguments presented by the authors, I
provide just a minimum of light, like the usher in the cinema, with the useful but
non-exhaustive task to accompany readers to their seats.
The examination of the correlational findings based on a broad collection
of studies of the World Database of Happiness (Veenhoven 2011) leads Ruut
Veenhoven to a synthesis that is intriguing for the resulting ideal types relating the
presence of classic beliefs in current social behaviour.
Next, Anna Maffioletti, Agata Maida and Francesco Scacciati argue about the
definition of happiness in economic studies and their congruence on the basis
of a field survey on happiness, life satisfaction and well-being conducted in the
Italian Region of Piedmont: terminological problems arising within languages and
between languages lead to methodological problems to which possible solutions
are clearly suggested by them.
Serge Kolm reveals what is essential in contemplative wisdom from its origins:
a systematic observation of daily inner experience, and the construction of effec-
tive remedies to the upsurge of suffering, “by making your mind and body more
malleable”. However, he interestingly sustains that the Buddhist conception of self
can be intended as an extension of the utilitarian model.
Roberto Burlando concentrates his reflections on the relationships between ethics
and economics. His broad sphere of interest is guided by a “back to basics” effort
in which the Eastern traditions based on Dharma and the Aristotelian eudaimonia
contribute to witness the possibility of a good life; it results in a dense contribution
in which these ‘traditions’ nurture a radical critique to mainstream economics and
suggest significant proposals for pragmatic innovative economic policies.
This is close to the thread of argument in Ryan et al. (2008), inviting to con-
centrate on the study of eudaimonia as distinct from—but not fully opposite to—
hedonia, as they clarify, and focusing on the process of managing one's own life
instead of measuring outcomes related to the achievement of pleasures. In this
sense, happiness “is not conceived of as a mental state, a positive feeling, or a cog-
nitive appraisal of satisfaction, but rather as a way of living” (ib.: 143).
In the last chapter, I address my attention to the contemporary forms assumed
by contemplative practice in a secularized world, pinpointing the core theoretical
and methodological issues that they uncover about the economic actor in a socio-
logical perspective.
As we have enough empirical evidence about the overestimation by people of
extra-happiness that they will get from extra possessions, this sounds, alongside
Layard (2006), like a warning related to the current model of ‘evolution’ (‘a nega-
tive internality’: 6) and the British LSE economist suggests a wiser public policy in
order to orient tastes, that are not given, as usually intended by orthodox economists.
Kolm, Burlando and Giorgino call for a systemic cultural change towards
a wiser model of man. Whatever level the desired change could be in order to
achieve a good life, they sustain the need for personal transformation as the brass
Introduction xiii

tacks: well-being is a life skill that can be learnt through specific social practices.
This is a clear invitation to take into account a much more subtle and effective
definition of self and action in social sciences.
Nevertheless, the present efforts are only the first step of a discussion that will
hopefully be developed further. As all authors expect that the results of happiness
studies can influence policies and even individual behaviours, I close with some-
thing that is more a partisan opening than a conclusion.
Veenhoven (2011), addressing the most important research findings of the last
years, lists some unexpected results that contradict different mainstream sociological
thinking and, in my view, have an important impact for a contemplative approach to
well-being. They show that: social comparison does not tell the whole story as affec-
tion plays a key role; happiness is quite variable over lifetime; the majority of man-
kind enjoys life, a finding at odds with dominant ‘sociology of misery’ explanations
Veenhoven (2006); average happiness is high and tends to rise in modern societies;
in the Western world differences across social categories are smaller than expected;
main difference being in personal skills to deal with life events; at macro level dif-
ferences in happiness within nations tend to get smaller, contradicting the idea of
a growing inequality in Western societies; people live more happily in what are
considered ‘individualistic’ societies than in what are called collectivistic ones like
Japan; people do not live more happily in welfare states that in equally rich nations
in which public interventions are reduced (ib.: 11–12). It is worth noting that part of
the awareness about these enhancements in social science is due to the opportunity
of the World Database of Happiness. I think that a systematic dialogue with contem-
plative approaches to well-being through a reliable database will help both perspec-
tives. But I need to take a step back before proceeding in this direction.
Contemplative studies suggest a different view from the shared consensus about
the self-based Western culture—in people, as well as in social sciences—an issue
that has been already a matter of analysis by Clifford Geertz (1974; for a more
recent discussion see Spiro 1993).
The most successful integration of contemplative knowledge within the Western
approach to well-being is called mindfulness (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
Training in its full definition). Mindfulness is intended as presence3,4; Jon Kabat-
Zinn, a pioneer in this field, defines mindfulness as “the awareness that emerges
through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally
o the unfolding of experience moment by moment” (Kabat-Zinn 2003). As this
kind of resilient affective style5 seems to be highly correlated to electrical activity
in pre-frontal cortex (Davidson 2004), the discovery of the plasticity of our brain

3
For a description of its origin in one of the most known tradition, the Japanese Zen, see Pheian
(2010).
4
Dorjee (2010) insists on the two main components of mindfulness, attention and acceptance,
and underlines the function of context.
5
Resilience is “the capacity for rapid recovery following negative events as the maintenance of
high levels of positive affect and well-being in the face of significant adversity” (Davidson 2004:
1397).
xiv Introduction

indicates a new interplay between first-person data and third-person inquiry via
neural correlates; social scientists need a broader training and reliable sources of
data to be very fit for developing a social science of well-being able to interact
with social neurosciences.
In contemplative science the field of mindfulness is growing and the debate
about the definition and operationalization of ‘traditional’ concepts is rich and
ongoing—the mass of research is now over 1,000 titles long. Chiesa (2012) in his
conclusions of an excellent review of the state of the art addresses the importance
of self-reports and of neurological findings annotating that ‘it is important to
underscore that neuro-scientific and neuro-psychological findings, which in their
generalizations and their artificial nature are currently grossly overestimated
against clinical findings or self-reports, should not be considered an alternative to
self reports of mindfulness but rather a complementary way to investigate the cor-
relates of practising mindfulness’.6
As all convene, from both fields, on making their arguments empirically
observable and implementable, it is possible to expect a broader archival strategy,
including what is part of the rising area of contemplative science of well-being,
which transcends various disciplines, psychology, medicine, education, manage-
ment and organizational studies, social neurosciences and neuro-phenomenological
studies as well.
So far, ‘business as usual’ cannot anymore be the mantra of our activity. The
divide between subject and object, actor and agency, choices and conditions as
well as between quantitative science and text-based science must be superseded.
As the French economist and sociologist Michel Callon with the methodologist
John Law argue (2005) in a paper about agency and self, the divide between calcu-
lation and judgement must be overcome (what they call ‘qualculation’) in order to
understand economic processes. This means to take seriously the abandonment of
any empiricist approach in favour of an enactive social science. Social investiga-
tion does not only study the world: it contributes to make it and ‘it can, in some
measure, think about the worlds it wants to help to make’ (Law and Urry 2005).
On the empirical evidence of a surprising growth of ethnographic studies, Mike
Savage shows how quantitative forms of analysis ‘can be recast in a non-positivist
frame’ (2013).
There is enough evidence of the entrepreneurial skills shown by the traditions
of wisdom, capable of integration in the current scientific practice and theory. This
leads us to support the belief that these capacities will influence social sciences for
the good, i.e. with the aim of the reduction of human suffering, and kindly con-
vince the ‘intransigent modernists’7 (Basole 2005). Economics, as Basole shows,

6
Another quite recent, very useful, meta-analysis is due to Grossman et al. (2004); see also the
evaluation study made by Ospina et al. (2007).
7
This author offers an interesting argumentation about Gandhi and Kumarappa economic theories
and the whole problem of tradition, modernity and post-modernity in economics—at this point all
terms should be bracketed, as phenomenologists could suggest—that their impermeability is no
more operating in favour of knowledge as common good.
Introduction xv

remains ‘intransigently modernist’, faithful to those principles and values linked to

the Siècle Lumière or Age of Reason, such as ‘belief in continued progress, both
scientific and material, an attitude to domination towards nature, a positivist epis-
temology and recognition of the fact-value split’ (Basole 2005: 2) and most of all,
opposed to the Dark Age based on irrational beliefs.8 However, even critical think-
ing in sociology and Marxism jumped on the bandwagon.
Contemplative enlightenment follows a different path: it does not oppose ‘tradi-
tion’ to ‘modernity’ and, in a sense, it could provisionally be called non-modern
(Basole 2005). In its invitation to go back to basics, sustaining an ‘economics
of permanence’—a term originally introduced by Kumarappa, then retrieved by
Schumacher 1973 (Basole 2005)—it accompanies us to non-taken for granted
answers about the way we wish to shape our social and economic relationships,
superseding those approaches grounded on divided thinking that, if followed, will
lead us in the middle of nowhere.

Turin, 11 October 2013 Vincenzo Giorgino

References

Basole, A. (2005). The Economics of Ahimsa: Gandhi, Kumarappa and the

non-modern challenge to Economics. Retrieved from http://www.facstaff.
bucknell.edu/ab044/Gandhi-Kumarappa.pdf
Callon, M., & Law, J. (2005). On qualculation, agency and otherness. Environment
and Planning D: Society and Space, 23, (5).
Chiesa, A. (2012). The difficulty of defining mindfulness: Current thought and
critical issues. Mindfulness. Retrieved June 29, from http://www.radboudcentru
mvoormindfulness.nl/media/Artikelen/Chiesa_2012_defining_mindfulness.pdf
Davidson, R. J. (2004). Well-being and affective style: Neural substrates and
biobehavioural correlates. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London, 359.
Dorjee, D. (2010). Kinds and dimensions of mindfulness: Why it is important to
distinguish them. Mindfulness, 29th May, 152–160.
Geertz C. (1974). From the native’s point of view: On the nature of anthropologi-
cal understanding. Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
28(1), October.
Grossman, P. et al. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits:
A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57(1), 35–43.

8
In this book the reader will come across a curious coincidence: the co-existence of two very
different usages of the term enlightenment. One refers to what is intended as the European inheritance
after the Dark Age as the rhetorics of modernity tells us, the other is what ‘traditions’ offer to us as
a training pathway to liberation.
xvi Introduction

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2004). The full catastrophe living: How to cope with stress, pain
and illness using mindfulness meditation. London: Piatkus.
Law, J., & Urry, J. (2005). Enacting the social. Economy and Society, 33, 390–410.
Layard, R. (2006). Happiness and public policy: a challenge to the profession. The
Economic Journal, 116(510).
Ospina, M. B. et al. (2007). Meditation practices for health: State of the Research.
Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 155. AHRQ Publication No.
07-E010. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. June 2
Pheian, J. P. (2010). Mindfulness as Presence. Mindfulness, 1.
Ryan, R. M. et al. (2008). Living well: a self-determination theory perspective on
eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 139–170.
Savage, M. (2013). The social life of methods: a critical introduction. Theory
Culture and Society, 30: 3–21.
Schumacher, E. (1973). Small is beautiful. A study of Economics as people mat-
tered. Rupa and Co.
Spiro, M. E. (1993). Is the western conception of the self “peculiar” within the
context of the world cultures? Ethos, 21(2): 107–153.
Veenhoven, R. (2006). Sociology’s blind eye for happiness. Paper presented at the
16th World Congress of Sociology, Durban, South Africa.
Veenhoven, R. (2011). World database of happiness: Example of a focused find-
ings Archive. German: Data Forum (RatSWD), February.
Chapter 1
Classic Wisdom About Ways to Happiness:
How Does It Apply Today?

Ruut Veenhoven

1.1 Introduction

Interest in happiness is rising these days and this conference is a manifestation of

this trend. In the scientific world, this interest has given rise to both new empirical
research and renewed attention for classic thought.

Renewed Call for Greater Happiness

During the middle ages in Europe it was widely believed that happiness was not
possible during one’s earthly life and that morality was to be based on the word
of God. These views were contested in the Enlightenment; happiness came to be
seen as attainable and morality as man-made. A lively discussion on the relation
between happiness and morality emerged (Mauzi 1960; Buijs 2007) and in this
climate an instrumental view on morality appeared, in which maintaining ethical
codes was seen as a means to secure a happy life.
Though welcomed in enlightened circles in the 18th century, this view was
rejected by the dominant ideologies of the 19th century and the first half of the
20th century. The strongest opposition came from the churches, which saw lit-
tle value in early happiness and continued to profess a principalistic morality
based on the ten commandments. The liberals of the time had reservations about
the greatest happiness principle; in their power struggle with the aristocracy they
emphasized freedom. Likewise the socialists who entered the scene in the late 19th
century prioritized social equality. Nationalism dominated in first half of the 20th
century during the period of the two world wars, and the nationalists were more
interested in national glory than in individual happiness.
Much of this enlightened thought is reflected in Jeremy Bentham’s (1789)
‘Introduction to morals and legislation’. Bentham argues that the moral qual-
ity of action should be judged by its consequences on human happiness, and he
also claims that we should aim at the ‘greatest happiness for the greatest number’.
Bentham defined happiness in terms of psychological experience, as ‘the sum of
pleasures and pains’. His philosophy is known as ‘utilitarianism’, because of its

V. Giorgino, The Pursuit of Happiness and the Traditions of Wisdom, 1

SpringerBriefs in Well-Being and Quality of Life Research,
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-04744-7_1, © The Author(s) 2014
2 1 Classic Wisdom About Ways to Happiness: How Does It Apply Today?

emphasis on the utility of behavioural consequences. ‘Happyism’ would have been

a better name, since this utility is seen to contribute to happiness.
Although welcomed in enlightened circles in the eighteenth century, this view
was rejected by the dominant ideologies of the nineteenth century and the first
half of the twentieth century. The strongest opposition came from the churches,
which saw little value in early happiness and continued to profess a principalistic
morality based on the ten commandments. The liberals of the time had reserva-
tions about the greatest happiness principle; in their power struggle with the aris-
tocracy they emphasized freedom. Likewise, socialists who entered the scene in
the late nineteenth century prioritized social equality. Nationalism dominated in
the first half of the twentieth century during the period of the two world wars, and
the nationalists were more interested in national glory than in individual happiness.
As a result, interest in happiness declined and one of the indications of this
decline is a sharp drop in the use of the word in book titles after 1800 (Buijs
2007). When I took a course in Social Philosophy in the 1960s, I encountered
Bentham’s greatest happiness principle as a historical topic. Yet a revival was in
the air, people began to seek happiness, ever more books on ‘How to be happy’
appeared in bookshops, and happiness became a topic on the political agenda.
This renewed interest in greater happiness was driven by several factors. One
of these is that many pressing ills had been overcome such as wars and epidem-
ics. The second half of the twentieth century was characterized by peace, democ-
racy and an unprecedented rise in our standards of living. This gave way to more
positive goals, such as improving public health and happiness. Another factor was
the development of a multiple-choice society in which individuals could choose
how to live their life and therefore were interested in what way of life would be
most satisfying. The rise of happiness on the political agenda was also facilitated
by the weakening of the earlier ideological opposition mentioned above. Churches
were in decline, the liberals and the socialists had attained most of their ideals and
nationalism had lost much of its appeal.

Emergence of Empirical Research

The rising public interest in happiness was paralleled by the increasing attention
paid to this topic among scientists. Happiness became a major topic of interest
in several new strands of research: in ‘social indicators research’ which emerged
in the 1970s, in medical ‘quality of life research’ which developed in the 1980s
and the strands ‘positive psychology’ and ‘happiness economics’ which appeared
around the year 2000. The number of scientific publications on happiness has
grown steeply since the 1960s, as can be seen from Fig. 1.1. In all this research the
leading question is: What makes people happy? and the major motivation has been
to advance happiness.

Revert to Classic Wisdom

This renewed interest in happiness has also manifested in a fascination with
­classical thought on ways to happiness. Ancient wisdom from the east was found
in Indian Vedas and Buddhist philosophy and Asian classic texts were translated
1.1 Introduction 3

numbar of publications per year

year

Fig. 1.1  Scientific publications on happiness since 1900. Source Bibliography of Happiness

(Veenhoven 2013b)

into modern English. A recent book on the teachings on happiness by Tibet’s

Dalai Lama sold more than a million copies (Dalai Lama XIV and Cutler 1998).
Likewise, the views of early western philosophers have been scrutinized for advice
on happiness, such as in Wilhelm Schmid’s ‘philosophy of art of living’. A recent
account of the history of philosophical thought on happiness has been published
by MacMahon (2005).
Yet, with so much modern research literature available on happiness, why
do we revert to classic teaching? One reason is that the scattered facts about
­happiness found in modern research are yet to be crystallized into clear rules for
a happy life. Classical thought provides rules without facts. A related factor seems
to be the belief that seasoned wisdom may have already captured the big principles
behind observable facts. Another driver is modern romanticism and our related
openness to ‘alternative’ views from other times and cultures, the lure of mysti-
cism (Schmid 2005).

1.2 Classic Views on Ways to Happiness

The most ‘classic’ views on happiness that we know are views that have been
written down. Writing appeared late in human history and for that reason we do
not know anything about our preliterate ancestors’ views on happiness over the
4 1 Classic Wisdom About Ways to Happiness: How Does It Apply Today?

thousands of centuries that they lived as hunter gatherers. What reflections we

have on ways to happiness date from advanced agricultural society in which
scholarship developed in the context of religious institutions and noble courts­
(e.g. Nolan and Lensky 2011–2012).
The classical teachings on happiness are about how to live a good life. The term
‘good’ in how to live a good life is mostly seen in living a morally correct life
and behaving in a proper manner, typically being religiously devoted and socially
responsible. Yet subjective enjoyment of life is also acknowledged and often seen
as a by-product of good behaviour.
There is much diversity in the classical advice on how to live a good life and
this diversity roots in the variety of possible views on what a good life is and in
the public served with the message. Below I present five major strands of advice,
which rather than expanding in detail and justifying, I will place in the social con-
text from which they emerged.

Way of the Warrior

A common strand of advice is to live a brave and adventurous life and reap fame
and power. This advice fits the ideals of the warrior class in feudal societies and
several scholars living in the noble courts have praised this way of life. The crusader
is exemplary of this view, fighting daringly for the right cause and rewarded with
fame, power and wealth in earthly life and with heaven in afterlife.

Way of the Merchant

A civilian variant is to seek success in trade and gain wealth. This advice fits the
way of life of the merchant class that developed late in advanced agricultural soci-
eties and is typically professed by intellectual exponents of the attendant culture,
such as protestant ministers and teachers. Icons of this view are explorers, inven-
tors and founders of big business. The ‘protestant ethic’ is a frugal alternate of this
view on the good life.

Both the above views see happiness in active involvement in society. Following Weber
(1905) this can be characterized as an ‘inner worldly’ (innerweltlich) orientation.
Parallel to these views there has always been admonition that reflects an outer worldly
(auserweltlich) orientation. Below are three variants of happiness advice of this kind.

Way of the Philosopher

In this line of advice happiness can best be achieved in a contemplative life. Life
becomes more bearable if we understand it better, both the world around us and
our inner self. Hence happiness is sought in knowledge, typically distant knowl-
edge free from disturbing emotion. Happiness is equated with wisdom.
This view fits the life of professional philosophers and the advice is actually to
live as a philosopher. An icon of this view is the Greek philosopher Epicure, who
retreated from the turbulent society of his time into the peaceful environment of
his walled garden, where he immersed himself in gentle intellectual conversation
with followers while enjoying good food (Bergsma et al. 2008).
1.2 Classic Views on Ways to Happiness 5

Way of the Peasant

An intellectually less demanding alternative way to happiness is to live a simple
life, preferably in the country. Renouncement of opulence will save us a lot of
frustration and contact with nature will cure alienation.
This romantic advice is typically not delivered to poor peasants, but to well-
to-do city dwellers, who assume that the grass is greener in the country. Although
mostly a matter of alternative dreaming, this advice has instigated several
‘back-to-the-land’ movements such as the ‘communes’ and the Arts and Crafts
movement in the nineteenth century.

Way of the Monk

The most radical alternative way to happiness is to seclude oneself from soci-
ety and seek refuge in the isolation of a desert or behind the walls of a cloister.
Again a key idea is that it is better not to want things one cannot get. The atten-
dant ideas are that one can discipline oneself to live with the bare minimum and
that there is deep gratification to be found in religious practices such as prayer.
Endurance of discomfort in one’s current life is seen as a ticket to better conditions
in an afterlife.
As in the case of the philosophers, this advice was typically professed
by its practitioners, that is, the clerical class which constituted a consider-
able part of the population in medieval society and was quite influential
intellectually.

1.3 How to Assess Applicability Today?

Observed Happiness on Advised Ways to Happiness

The renewed interest in this ancient wisdom about happiness begs the question of
how applicable it is in the conditions of contemporary society. Does it apply at all
or might it even take us from the frying pan into the fire? Are some of the recom-
mended ways to happiness better fitted to the present than others? Below I will
answer these questions using the available research findings on conditions for hap-
piness in modern society.

Concept of Happiness
To answer these questions, we first need a clear concept of happiness. This concept
should be distinct from the advised ways of life to avoid conflation. It should also be
measurable so that differences in happiness on advised ways of life can be assessed
empirically.
I have defined happiness elsewhere as the ‘subjective enjoyment of one’s life as
a whole’ (Veenhoven 1984, 2000). In this definition happiness is synonymous with
life satisfaction and this meaning also fits Bentham’s definition of happiness as
‘the sum of pleasures and pains’. Happiness in this sense is conceptually different
from objectivistic notions of a morally desirable life and is as such well suited for
6 1 Classic Wisdom About Ways to Happiness: How Does It Apply Today?

this test. The concept is also well measurable. Happiness, defined as ‘subjective
enjoyment’, denotes something that people have on their mind, which like all
states of awareness can be measured using questioning.
Questions on happiness can be framed in several ways and sometimes address
subtly different things than life satisfaction. All the acceptable questions ever used
in the empirical research are listed in the collection ‘Measures of Happiness’ of
the World Database of Happiness (Veenhoven 2013c). The research findings men-
tioned in the next section are based on questions admitted to that collection after a
check for fit with the concept of happiness as defined above.

Empirical Approach
I followed the methodology used in a special issue of the Journal of Happiness
Studies on ‘Advise of the Wise’ (Bergsma 2008), in which the reality value of various
recommendations for a happier life are explored. One of the articles in that issue was
about the advice implied in three ancient Chinese philosophies. Together with Zhang
Guoquing I first listed the advocated ways of life and next checked whether modern
people who live accordingly are happier than contemporaries who do not (Veenhoven
and Guoquing 2008). For this purpose we drew on research findings gathered in the
World Database of Happiness and, in particular, in the collection of ‘Correlational
Findings’ (Veenhoven 2013d).

Data on Conditions for Happiness in Contemporary Society

In this study I also draw on the World Database of Happiness. To date this ‘findings
archive’ contains some 20,000 research findings, each of which is described on sep-
arate ‘pages’ in a standard format using standard terminology (Veenhoven 2011).
These finding pages can be sorted subjectwise and this enabled me to select find-
ings that pertain to advised ways of life.
I will not present these findings individually, but will characterize the typical
correlation as either positive (+), non-existent (0) or negative (−). I will also not
dwell on the many variations to this general pattern. The reader can find all the
details using the links to the finding reports given in the right-hand side columns
of Tables 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5.

Limitations
The bulk of the findings gathered in the World Database of Happiness come from
studies performed in western nations since the 1970s. So the check will limit the
applicability to this kind of society.
Although the number of research findings is large, only a part bears informa-
tion about the conditions addressed in classic advice on happiness. Most of these
findings are based on samples of the general population and studies in subgroups
are scarce to date. So I can consider applicability for the average citizen, but have,
as yet, little perspective on the applicability of this advice in specific subgroups of
the population, such as elderly widows or unemployed academics.