This page contains a collection of resources on the science and philosophy of happiness. It is aimed at beginners who want to learn more about happiness and teachers who are looking for beginner-friendly resources to supplement course readings. When looking for information on a new topic, some people are looking for a short beginner-friendly overview. Others prefer in-depth and more academic articles. Some people prefer to watch videos. Others prefer listening to podcasts. This collection of resources aims to make learning about the science and philosophy of happiness as easy as possible by allowing each individual to choose the educational resources that are the difficulty, length, and format they like the most. If you are looking for more in-depth information on happiness, check out this list of the best books on happiness.
Podcasts
These podcasts feature interviews with scientists and academics about happiness. Good for beginners. Length of interview is in brackets.
- Happiness – BBC Radio 4: In Our Time [45:00]
- Happiness and Optimism – BBC Radio 4: All in the Mind [30:00]
- Happiness Industry, Wellness Syndrome – BBC Radio 4: Thinking Allowed [28:00]
- The Experience Machine – BBC Radio 4: The Philosopher’s Arms [30:00]
- The Pursuit of Happiness – BBC Radio 4 [28:00]
- What’s the secret to happiness? – London School of Economics [26:30]
- Happiness is… – The Philosopher’s Zone [24:30]
- Happiness—it’s not personal – The Philosopher’s Zone [25:34]
- Liberalism and Happiness – The Philosopher’s Zone [13:20]
- The right to happiness? – The Philosopher’s Zone [24:30]
- The Happiness Machine – The Philosopher’s Zone [25:00]
- Wellbeing – The Philosopher’s Zone [25:00]
- Rick Hanson on the Neuroscience of Happiness – Greater Good podcast
- The Science and Philosophy of Happiness – Rationally Speaking [48:35]
- Myles Burnyeat on Aristotle on Happiness – Philosophy Bites [12:16]
- Pascal Bruckner on Happiness – Philosophy Bites [18:31]
- The Bottom of the Curve – Hi-Phi Nation [37:05]
- Rafeeq Hasan discusses Rousseau on freedom and happiness – Elucidations [37:42]
- Aristotle on Friendship and Happiness – The Partially Examined Life [54:42]
- The Political Economy of Happiness – New Books Network [1:04:33]
- The Happiness Industry – New Books Network [44:54]
- The Happiness Effect – New Books Network [22:29]
- The Calculus of Happiness – New Books Network [51:57]
- Well-being – Minerva [23:48]
Videos
These are mostly short videos featuring academics discussing happiness. Also good for beginners.
- The surprising science of happiness – Dan Gilbert | TED [21:19]
- The habits of happiness – Matthieu Ricard | TED [20:54]
- Five Ancient Secrets to Modern Happiness – Yale University [1:03:50]
- The surprising science of happiness – Nancy Etcoff | TED-Ed
- What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness – Robert Waldinger | TED [12:46]
- Aristotle on Ethics, Happiness, and Virtue | Peter Adamson [9:09]
- Why Be Happy When You Could Be Interesting? – Slavoj Žižek | Big Think [2:00]
- Epicurus’ Cure for Unhappiness – Wireless Philosophy [9:32]
- The Science of Happiness, Motivation, and Meaning – Dan Ariely | Big Think
- The Psychology and Neuroscience of Happiness – The Royal Institute [36:23]
- Can Money Buy Happiness – ASAP Science [2:49]
- The Science of Happiness: What Your Mother Didn’t Tell You – Dan Gilbert
- Cicero on Why Virtue is Sufficient for Happiness – Gregory Sadler [11:43]
- John Stuart Mill on Happiness, Goods, and Virtue – Gregory Sadler [17:00]
- Aristotle, What is Happiness? – Gregory Sadler [18:34]
Articles
Short, easy articles on happiness.
- True happiness isn’t about being happy all the time – Lowri Dowthwaite | The Conversation
- This is the greatest good – Richard Layard | The Guardian
- Can happiness be measured? – Richard Layard & Julian Baginni | The Guardian
- Will this man make you happy? – Stuart Jeffries | The Guardian
- Emotional health in childhood ‘is the key to future happiness’ – Jamie Doward | The Guardian
- Why happiness is overrated – Stuart Jeffries | The Guardian
- Happiness, Philosophy and Science – Gary Gutting | The New York Times
- Happiness Is Other People – Ruth Whippman | The New York Times
- A Better Kind of Happiness – Will Storr | The New Yorker
- Enough’s enough: buying more stuff isn’t always the answer to happiness – Anthony James | The Conversation
- Happiness and meaning in life: The sweet spot where they meet – Thaddeus Metz | The Conversation
- The secret to happiness in later life is simple to discover, but hard to achieve – Asghar Zaidi | The Coversation
- Five reasons why we (eventually) become happier as we get older – Jolanta Burke | The Conversation
- Can money buy you happiness? It’s complicated – Catherine Jansson-Boyd | The Conversation
- To be happier, focus on what’s within your control – Massimo Pigliucci | aeon
- What the Aztecs can teach us about happiness and the good life – Sebastian Purcell | aeon
- Whatever Happened to Happiness? – Adam Potkay | Philosophy Now
- More Happiness Please – Jean Kazez | Philosophy Now
- Money is not the only thing affecting people’s happiness – Richard Layard | The Independent
- Is happiness in our genes? – Michael Pluess | OUP Blog
- Why the science of happiness can trump GDP as a guide for policy – Richard A. Eastlin | OUP Blog
- Happiness: it’s not always smiley faces and that’s okay – Amanda Conley Ayers | OUP Blog
- The Economics of Happiness – Paul Anand | OUP Blog
Encyclopedia Entries
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy features high quality, longer and more in-depth articles. These are the best resources for anyone who has a serious interest in the philosophy of happiness; however, they may be difficult for beginners.
- Happiness – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Well-Being – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Happiness – Wikipedia
- Philosophy of Happiness – Wikipedia
Webcomics
A few webcomics on happiness. These are just for fun.
- How to be perfectly unhappy – The Oatmeal
- A Dialogue on Happiness – Existential Comics
- Happiness Spigot – Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
- Money and Happiness – SMBC
- Felix – SMBC
- Life Satisfaction – SMBC
The Daily Idea aims to make learning about philosophy as easy as possible by bringing together the best philosophy resources from across the internet. To get started, check out this organized collection of 400+ articles, podcasts, and videos on a wide range of philosophical topics.
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