THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HOMO-EUDAIMONICUS: AFFECTS, BIOPOWER, AND PRACTICAL REASON A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY COMMITTEE ON THE CONCEPTUAL AND HISTORICAL STUDIES OF SCIENCE AND DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY BY FRANCIS ALAN MCKAY CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JUNE 2016 Copyright © 2016 by Francis Mckay All Rights Reserved If I want to be in the world effectively, and have being in the world as my art, then I need to practice the fundamental skills of being in the world. That’s the fundamental skill of mindfulness. People in general are trained to a greater or lesser degree through other practices and activities to be in the world. But mindfulness practice trains it specifically. And our quality of life is greatly enhanced when we have this basic skill. — Liam Mindfulness is a term for white, middle-class values — Gladys Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ viii Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1: A Science and Politics of Happiness .............................................................................. 1 1.2: Global Well-Being ......................................................................................................... 3 1.3: Mindfulness as the Case Study ....................................................................................... 6 1.4: Homo-eudaimonicus .................................................................................................... 10 1.5: An “Eastern” Eudaimonia ............................................................................................ 15 1.6: Thesis ............................................................................................................................ 18 1.7: Biopower ...................................................................................................................... 19 1.7.1: Foucault’s Biopower ............................................................................................. 20 1.7.2: Agamben: A Critique ............................................................................................ 22 i. The meaning of zōē and bios .................................................................................... 24 ii. The relation between zōē and bios .......................................................................... 27 iii. The relation between zōē, bios politikos and eu zēn .............................................. 28 1.7.3: Summarizing the Critique of Agamben ................................................................. 31 1.7.4: Biopower and the Good-Life ................................................................................. 34 1.7.5: Teleology, Power, Affect ...................................................................................... 36 1.8: Methodological Issues .................................................................................................. 40 1.8.1: Terminology .......................................................................................................... 40 1.8.2: A Multi-sited Approach to the Contemplative Life .............................................. 43 1.8.3: Naropa University ................................................................................................. 44 iv 1.8.4: Brown University .................................................................................................. 45 1.8.5: The Center for Mindfulness (CFM) ...................................................................... 46 1.8.6: Relevance of sites .................................................................................................. 47 1.8.7: Auto-ethnography: A Confession .......................................................................... 49 1.9: Chapter Outline ............................................................................................................ 51 Chapter 2: Global Well-Being ................................................................................................. 53 2.1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 53 2.2: Four Theories of Happiness ......................................................................................... 55 2.2.1: Eudaimonism ......................................................................................................... 55 2.2.2: Liberalism .............................................................................................................. 58 2.2.3: Utilitarianism ......................................................................................................... 65 2.2.4: Revealed Preferences ............................................................................................ 68 2.2.5: Sum ........................................................................................................................ 71 2.3: The Development of Subjective Well-Being Research (SWB) ................................... 71 2.3.1: Easterlin’s Critique of the Liberal Theory of Well-being ..................................... 73 2.3.2: Gallup measures SWB for the first time ............................................................... 74 2.3.3: Cantril and Life-Satisfaction ................................................................................. 77 2.3.4: Gallup and positive/negative affect ....................................................................... 81 2.3.5: A Return to Eudaimonia ........................................................................................ 83 Chapter 3: Mindlessness .......................................................................................................... 86 3.1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 86 3.2: Mindfulness .................................................................................................................. 93 3.2.1: Mindfulness in the West ........................................................................................ 94 v 3.2.2: Mindfulness as a Popular Therapeutic Modality ................................................. 102 3.3: Mindlessness .............................................................................................................. 105 3.3.1: Negative Existential Affects ................................................................................ 108 3.3.2: Meaninglessness .................................................................................................. 115 3.3.3: Rediscovering Bios .............................................................................................. 120 3.3.4: Hope: An Analogy ............................................................................................... 124 3.4: Affects and Practical Reason ...................................................................................... 127 3.4.1: The Good ............................................................................................................. 128 3.4.2: Practical Reason .................................................................................................. 130 3.4.3: Returning to Depression ...................................................................................... 131 Chapter 4: Tranquility ........................................................................................................... 133 4.1: Introduction ................................................................................................................ 133 4.2: Mindfulness: A Reconstruction .................................................................................. 135 4.2.1: Choosing Seats .................................................................................................... 136 4.2.2: The Bow .............................................................................................................. 137 4.2.3: Posture ................................................................................................................. 138 4.2.4: “Mindfulness” ..................................................................................................... 142 4.2.5: Returning to the breath ........................................................................................ 145 4.2.6: Samatha-Vipassana ............................................................................................. 150 4.2.7: The Inner Journey ................................................................................................ 157 4.3: A Surprising Tranquility ............................................................................................ 160 4.3.1: A Flourishing Tranquility .................................................................................... 164 4.3.2: Mind-Fullness ..................................................................................................... 167 vi 4.3.3: Ill-being ............................................................................................................... 171