The Politics of Well-Being: Towards a More Ethical World

Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 Introduction
Claim 1: the desire for well-being is hardwired into human nature
Claim 2: ethical life is a necessary condition for a sustainable experience of well-being
Claim 3: there is hope for a more ethical future
How can ethical life be realised?
Outline of the chapters
Notes
Chapter 2 Well-being
Hedonism, desire theory, and objective list theory
Political and ethical life
Summary and link to next chapter
Notes
Chapter 3 Optimism
Framework 1: the optimism agenda
Three reasons why progress fails to promote well-being
Framework 2: the positivity agenda
Summary and link to next chapter
Notes
Chapter 4 Populism
Why is there such a high demand for populism?
Why left-populism is not the solution
Conclusion and link to next chapter
Notes
Chapter 5 Escapism
Withdrawing from the world of thought
Identity and the search for intensity
Work
Mindfulness
Forgetting
Why retreat from thought is not inevitable
Cultural pessimism
Summary and link to next chapter
Notes
Chapter 6 Nihilism
Altruism
Materialism
Technology and the spectre of posthumanism
Anthropocene
The sacred
Summary and link to next chapter
Notes
Chapter 7 Hope
Thinking differently about hope
What else do we need to do to restore hope?
Notes
Chapter 8 Conclusion
Notes
References
Index