View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE Special Issue on 2017 ISA RC55 Mid-term Conference The Senshu Social Well-being Review Happiness Research: 2017, No. 4, 65-73 1 ©Senshu University 2017 Past and Future http://ir.acc.senshu-u.ac.jp Ruut Veenhoven a Abstract Scholarly interest in happiness peaked in ancient Greek philosophy and during the 18th century Enlightenment. Interest in the subject revived in the second half of the 20th century and still mounts today. In this paper, I describe these trends of interest in happiness and speculate about the drivers of this development. On this basis, I make an educated guess about interest in the future. Keywords subjective well-being, life-satisfaction, social indicator, history of research, salience of the topic As humans are conscious beings, they have in the subject. I start with a classification of always given thought about the quality notions of happiness. of their lives. This thought became more systematic after the invention of scripture and NOTIONS OF ‘HAPPINESS’ the development of professional scholarship. Different notions of quality of life crystallized, The word happiness is used in various ways. often called by the same name of ‘happiness’. In the widest sense, it is an umbrella term A long-standing discussion emerged on the for all that is good. In this meaning, it is relative importance of these ideas, and on often used interchangeably with terms like what constitutes ‘true happiness’. well-being or quality of life and denotes These views on the good life have been both individual and social welfare. This use described at length in several books on the of words suggests that there is one ultimate ‘philosophy of happiness’, such as recently good and disguises differences in interest in the monumental review by McMahon between individuals and society. It further (2006) entitled ‘Happiness: A history’. An suggests that all merits can be integrated in overview of this literature is available in the one final scale of worth. ‘Bibliography of Happiness’ (Veenhoven Quality-of-life concepts can be sorted 2017a, subject sections Ub and Uc). using two distinctions, which together These historical accounts compare provide a fourfold matrix. I have proposed schools of thought over time, typically this classification in an earlier attempt to beginning with ancient Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle and the Stoics, and ending a Erasmus University Rotterdam with 20th century post-materialists. The focus North-West University is on the ideas as such, rather than on the social forces that shaped these. In this paper, Corresponding Authors: I will follow a different approach. I focus on Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands and North-West University in South Africa. POB 1738 3000 the quantity of research output and analyze DR, Rotterdam, Netherlands. the reasons for rise and decline in interest E-mail: 66 The Senshu Social Well-being Review 4 bring order to the many measures used external and internal features. In the first in contemporary quality-of-life research case, the quality is in the environment, in (Veenhoven 2000). The first distinction is the latter it is in the individual. Lane (1994) between chances and outcomes, that is, makes this distinction clear by distinguishing the difference between opportunities for a quality of society from quality of persons. good life and the good life itself. A second The combination of these two dichotomies difference is between outer and inner yields a fourfold matrix. This classification is qualities of life, in other words between presented in Table 1. Table 1. Four Qualities of Life Outer qualities Inner qualities Life chances Livability of environment Life-ability of the person Life results Usefulness of life Satisfaction with life Source: Veenhoven 2000 positive health and associated with energy Livability of the Environment and resilience. The left top quadrant denotes the meaning A further step is to evaluate capability of good living conditions, shortly called in a developmental perspective and to livability. include acquisition of new skills for living. Ecologists see livability in the natural This is commonly denoted by the term self- environment and describe it in terms of actualization. From this point of view a pollution, global warming and degradation middle-aged man is not well if he behaves like of nature. Currently, they associate an adolescent, even if he functions without livability typically with preservation of the problems at this level. Since abilities do not environment. City planners see livability in develop alongside idleness, this quality of the built environment and associate it with life is close to activity in Aristotle’s concept such things as sewer systems, traffic jams of ‘eudemonia’. and ghetto formation. Here the good life Lastly, the term art of living denotes is seen as a fruit of human intervention. In special life-abilities; in most contexts, this the sociological view, society is central. quality is distinguished from mental health Livability is associated with the quality of and sometimes even attributed to slightly society as a whole and also with the position disturbed persons. Art of living is associated one has in society. with refined tastes, an ability to enjoy life and an original style of life. Life-ability of the Person Utility of Life The right top quadrant denotes inner life- chances. That is: how well we are equipped The left bottom quadrant represents the to cope with the problems of life. Sen (1993) notion that a good life must be good for calls this quality of life variant capability. I something more than itself. This assumes prefer the simple term ‘life-ability’, which some higher values. There is no current contrasts elegantly with livability. generic for these external outcomes of life. The most common depiction of this Gerson (1976: 795) refers to these effects quality of life is absence of functional as transcendental conceptions of quality defects. This is health in the limited sense, of life. Another appellation is meaning of sometimes referred to as negative health. life, which then denotes true significance Next to absence of disease, one can consider instead of mere subjective sense of meaning. excellence of function. This is referred to as I prefer the simpler usefulness of life, while Veenhoven 67 admitting that this label may also give rise to affective appraisal and cognitively guided misunderstanding. evaluation. The mix depends mainly on the When evaluating the external effects object. Tangible things, such as our income, of a life, one can consider its functionality are typically evaluated by comparison; for the environment. In this context, doctors intangible matters, such as sexual stress how essential patients lives are to their attractiveness, are evaluated by how one intimates. At a higher level, quality of life is feels. This dual evaluation system probably seen in contributions to society. Historians makes the human experiential repertoire see quality in the addition an individual can richer than that of our fellow-creatures. make to human culture, and rate for example In evaluating our life, we typically the lives of great inventors higher than those summarize this rich experience in overall of anonymous peasants. Moralists see quality appraisals. For instance, we appreciate in the preservation of the moral order, and several domains of life. When asked how would deem the life of a saint to be better we feel about our work or our marriage, we than that of a sinner. As an individual’s life will mostly have an opinion. Likewise, most can have many environmental effects, the people form ideas about separate qualities of number of such utilities is almost infinite. their life, for instance, how challenging their Apart from its functional utility, life is life is and whether there is any meaning in it. also judged on its moral or esthetic value. Such judgments are made in different time- For instance, most of us would attribute more perspectives, in the past, the present and in the quality to the life of Florence Nightingale future. Mostly such judgments are not very than to that of a drunk, even if it appeared salient in our consciousness. Now and then, in the end that her good works had some they pop to mind spontaneously. Though not negative results. in the forefront of consciousness all the time, estimates of subjective enjoyment of life can be recalled and refreshed when needed. Subjective Enjoyment of Life This makes these appraisals measurable in Finally, the bottom right quadrant represents principle. the inner outcomes of life. That is the quality Such a subjective evaluation can also in the eye of the beholder. As we deal with concern one’s life as a whole. Bentham (1789) conscious humans, this quality boils down referred to such appraisal as ‘the sum of to subjective appreciation of life. This is pleasures and pains’ and called it ‘happiness’. commonly referred using terms such as In this paper, I call it ‘life-satisfaction’2. subjective wellbeing, life-satisfaction and happiness in a limited sense of the word. PAST THOUGHT ON HAPPI- Humans are capable of evaluating their NESS life in different ways. We have in common with all higher animals that we can appraise All above mentioned notions of the good life our situation affectively. We feel good or bad figure in classic thought, clearly because they about particular things and our mood level are all of relevance in the human condition. signals overall adaptation. As in animals, Emphasis on particular notions has varied these affective appraisals are automatic, but over time. unlike other animals it is known that humans can reflect on this experience. We have an Earlier Focus on Moral Behavior idea of how we have felt over the last year, while a cat does not.