Happiness: A Philosopher's Guide

Marc Notes: Translated from the French.; What is 'happiness' and how do we achieve it? Frederic Lenoir proposes that true and lasting happiness is indeed possible. He takes us on an exciting journey - from Aristotle to Buddha to modern neuroscience, from the personal to the universal - to discover how happiness is attainable in our own lives. A bestseller in France, Lenoir takes the reader on a journey of exploration and discovery, investigating how to love the life you lead, the art of being yourself, and what smiling, laughter and joy really mean. Biographical Note: FREDERIC LENOIR is a philosopher, sociologist, and religious historian, and the author of numerous essays, books, and novels translated into over twenty languages. He is a professor at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, one of France's elite universities, and is the editor of "Le Monde des religions," a bimonthly magazine that is part of France's leading newspaper, "Le Monde." He is also the producer and host of the weekly program about religion and philosophy on France Culture radio. ANDREW BROWN's most recent translations include works by Proust, Zola, Flaubert, Stendhal, Rabelais, and Baudelaire. Review Quotes: "A brief though well-considered guide to a wide range of the many schools of thought regarding contentment, joy and happiness."--"Kirkus Reviews ""FrEdEric Lenoir takes us through a philosophical journey that provokes thinking and encourages acting. Reading "Happiness" can make your life's journey a happier one."--Tal Ben-Shahar, author of "Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment ""FrEdEric Lenoir's "Happiness" is a skillful, entertaining blend of philosophy and science that seeks to answer a question that thinkers have been posing for centuries: what does it mean to be happy? Happiness is a tough subject to tackle well. FrEdEric Lenoir creates a journey that is as beautiful as it is thought-provoking."--Maria Konnikova, bestselling author of "Mastermind"Table of Contents: Contents Prologue 1 Loving the Life You Lead 2 In the Garden of Pleasures, with Aristotle and Epicurus 3 Giving Meaning to Life 4 Voltaire and the Happy Idiot 5 Does Every Human Being Wish to Be Happy? 6 Happiness Is Not of This World: Socrates, Jesus, Kant 7 On the Art of Being Oneself 8 Schopenhauer: Happiness Lies in Our Sensibility 9 Does Money Make Us Happy? 10 The Emotional Brain 11 On the Art of Being Attentive . . . and Dreaming 12 We Are What We Think 13 The Time of a Life 14 Can We Be Happy Without Other People? 15 The Contagiousness of Happiness 16 Individual Happiness and Collective Happiness 17 Can the Quest for Happiness Make Us Unhappy? 18 From Desire to Boredom: When Happiness Is Impossible 19 The Smile of the Buddha and Epictetus 20 The Laughter of Montaigne and Chuang Tzu 21 The Joy of Spinoza and Ma Anandamayi Epilogue Notes BibliographyBrief Description: "From the ancient Greeks on--from Aristotle, Plato, and Chuang Tzu to the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad; from Voltaire, Spinoza, and Schopenhauer to Kant, Freud, and even modern neuroscientists--Lenoir considers the idea that true and lasting happiness is indeed possible"--Amazon.com. Publisher Marketing: A huge bestseller in Europe, Frederic Lenoir's "Happiness" is an exciting journey that examines how history's greatest philosophers and religious figures have answered life's most fundamental question: " What is happiness and how do I achieve it?" From the ancient Greeks on--from Aristotle, Plato, and Chuang Tzu to the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad; from Voltaire, Spinoza, and Schopenhauer to Kant, Freud, and even modern neuroscientists--Lenoir considers the idea that true and lasting happiness is indeed possible. In clear language, Lenoir concisely surveys what the greatest thinkers of all time have had to say on the subject, and, with charming prose, raises provocative questions: - Do we have a duty to be happy? - Is there a connection between individual and collective happiness? - Is happiness contagious? - Is there a difference between pleasure and happiness? - Can unhappiness and happiness coexist? - Does our happiness depend on our luck? Understanding how civilization's best minds have answered those questions, Lenoir suggests, not only makes for a fascinating reading experience, but also provides a way for us to see us how happiness, that most elusive of feelings, is attainable in our own lives. Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2015 (EAN 9781612194394, Hardcover) Library Journal 03/15/2015 pg. 1085 (EAN 9781612194394, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Contributor Bio:  Lenoir, Frederic Frederic Lenoir est universitaire. Philosophe, sociologue et historien des religions, il est chercheur associe au Centre d'etudes interdisciplinaires du fait religieux a l'Ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales (EHESS/ CNRS). Il a publie de nombreux essais et dirige plusieurs encyclopedies sur les questions spirituelles et religieuses. Il est producteur de l'emission "les racines du ciel" sur France Culture. Il a recemment publie chez FayardLa Guerison du monde, Socrate, Jesus, Bouddha et Comment Jesus est devenu Dieu. Ses recents ouvrages, Petit traite de vie interieure, Dieu (avec Marie Drucker) et L'Ame du monde, ont tous figure en bonne place dans les listes de best-sellers. Contributor Bio:  Brown, Andrew Andrew Brown is Lecturer in the School of History, Classics and Philosophy at the University of Massey. His previous publications include Church and Society in England, 1000 1500 (2003) and Court and Civic Society in the Burgundian Low Countries c.1420 1530 (co-edited with Graeme Small, 2007).