Happiness?
Jeanne Proust at Strand Bookstore
Fri, May 25 at 7 p.m. | 90 minutes
Happiness seems to be the ultimate goal of our existence. At the end, all we want is to be happy. We want to do / to be/ to feel a lot of things in order to reach goals (ends) but Happiness appears to be The End within and for itself: we don’t want to be happy for the sake of something else – we want happiness for its own sake.
But to this conviction, we can oppose the uncertainty of what exactly we mean by happiness.
There seems to be no objective definition for happiness: the contingencies within everyone’s existence make people wish for different things as the sources of what could make them happy. We might consider happiness as a universal wish – though without any possible universal agreement on what will cause it. In this Olio, we’ll consider different possible answers to the following questions:
Is happiness a sum of pleasures?
Is it an unattainable, or even vain ideal?
Is it up to us to be happy?
Should we refrain from thinking in order to be happy?
Join philosopher Jeanne Proust as we dive into this topic from all angles and possibly find an evening of happiness.
Teacher: Jeanne Proust
While teaching at different universities in New York, Jeanne is advocating for a widening of philosophical education beyond the academia frontiers by participating in different events open to the general public. She taught at Rikers Island as a volunteer, and regularly gives public talks in philosophy, leading her to recently produce her own podcast, "Can You Phil It?”.
Venue: Strand Bookstore
Add to Calendar
May 25, 20187 p.m.
May 25, 2018
America/New_York
Think Olio | Happiness?
There seems to be no objective definition for happiness. We might consider happiness as a universal wish – though without any possible universal agreement on what will cause it.
None
What is Think Olio?
Think Olio is here to put the liberation back into the liberal arts.
Classically, the liberal arts, were the education considered essential for a free person to take an active part in civic life. To counter a humanities that has been institutionalized and dehumanized we infuse critical thinking, openness, playfulness, and compassion into our learning experience.
Read more about our mission, our story, and how we are doing this.
Scenius Membership
If Friday night lectures, museum field trips, and living room salons sound like your kind of thing, then you've found your people. We can't wait to welcome you to the Think Olio Scenius. More info
Stay in Touch
Instagram Mailing List Contact