This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to an understanding of happiness. We will first review the different treatments of happiness in the world’s philosophical traditions: conceptions of the good life in classical Greek and Judeo-Christian thought, the great East Asian philosophies, and ideas about happiness that emerged in the age of Enlightenment. With these different perspectives as a framework, the course will turn to treatments of happiness in the behavioral sciences, evolutionary scholarship, and neuroscience. Special Emphasis will be given to understanding how happiness arises in experiences of the moral emotions, including gratitude, compassion, reverence and awe, and aesthetic emotions like humor and beauty.

Credit Restrictions

Students will receive no credit for Psychology N162 after taking Psychology 162, or Psychology C162/Letters and Science C160V. A deficient grade in Psychology 162 may be removed by taking Psychology N162.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills