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thoughts on Happiness Has a History On Volume 82 of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, professor Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn discusses the work of the late Philip Rieff and how people become increasingly dissatisfied the more obsessively they pursue satisfaction and fulfillment. In a recent publication of The Trinity Forum, professor Wilfred McClay—also a guest on Volume 82—says much the same thing about happiness: when pursued as an end in itself, happiness is elusive. In "A Short History of Happiness," McClay writes that the way the current age thinks of happiness—as something everyone can and should achieve by themselves at any time—is not the way previous ages have understood it, nor is it the way Christianity understands it. He gives a brief history of various ideas about happiness and notes the role the Enlightenment played in the development of those ideas. He asserts that happiness might be best found along the way, as a byproduct while one is seeking something else, and that oftentimes it is fleeting. He explains how the Christian faith is suited particularly well for accounting for happiness and for grieving its loss.  "A Short History of Happiness" is published in the online journal of The Trinity Forum, Implications: Reflections & Provocations on Faith and Life. For an adaptation of it, see "The Paradox of the Pursuit of Happiness." The Trinity Forum is, according to its web site, "a leadership academy that works to cultivate networks of leaders whose integrity and vision will help renew culture and promote human freedom and flourishing. Our programs and publications offer contexts for leaders to consider together the big ideas that have shaped Western civilization and the faith that has animated its highest achievements." To find out more about it and Implications, click here. [Posted December 2006, ALG] |
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