The Pursuit of Unhappiness: The Elusive Psychology of Well-Being

369 Pages·2008·2.74 MB·English

by  Daniel M. Haybron

THE PURSUIT OF UNHAPPINESS
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The Pursuit of Unhappiness
The Elusive Psychology of Well-Being
DANIEL M. HAYBRON
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InmemoryofAliceandRon
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Preface
Wecannotthinkclearlyaboutaplantoranimaluntilwehaveanameforit.
E.O.Wilson¹
Whitepeoplethinktheycanlearneverythingrightaway,byreadingitout
ofabookandaskingquestionsateveryone. Butitdoesn’tworkthatway,
yougottoexperienceitandliveittolearnit...Stopaskingquestions.You
asktoo manyfuckingquestions. Because when you’re ready to know, it’ll
be shown to you. Maybe by the end of this trip, you’ll know just a little,
tinybit...Yeah,butthenmaybeyouwon’twanttowriteabookanymore,
becauseit’simpossibletowritedownthosekindsofthings...Andpeople
won’tunderstandanyway,becausetheydidn’texperienceit.
LewisAtcitty,aNavajo²
Therearemanygoodreasonsnottowriteabookonhappiness.Notleastofthese
isthe inherentlyparadoxical nature of the enterprise. Onthe one hand,serious
inquiry, particularly philosophical argument, demands clarity of expression; we
need to know exactly what is being said so that we can assess the merits of our
claims and the arguments for them. Philosophers like to wade in clear streams,
notmurkyswamps.Ontheotherhand,happinessisaparadigmofunclarity,the
Mother of All Swamps. Even if you can get past the endless verbal squabbling
that has tended to cripple discussion of the subject—or is it subjects?—you
will still find yourself dealing with some of the most rich, complex, nebulous,
diaphanous,fluid,andevanescentphenomenaknowntohumankind.Noteven
poetsareuptothetask.Toagreatextent,asMr.Atcittyobserved,youjusthave
tobethere.
These points may seem to counsel silence or despair, but to my mind they
simplymaketheprojectmoreinteresting.Youcan’texactlymaketheintangible
tangible, but you can make it a little less mysterious, and a little less elusive.
Whenabiologistputsapinthroughafrogsoshecanstudyit,sheendsupwith
somethinglessthanafrog.Alotofinformationhasbeenlost.Forstarters,itno
longer does anything. Much has been lost in the process, but she may yet learn
somethingofvalueabouttheanimalfromtheex-frogthatnowliesonhertable.
Ithinkthatsystematicinvestigationintohappinesscansimilarlyteachusagood
dealaboutthematter,evenifmuchremainsbeyonddescription.Thechallenge
liesinbringingameasureofintelligibilityifnotclarityeventomattersthatonce
seemedhopelesslyinscrutable.Ibelievethiscanbedone,toasurprisingextent.
viii Preface
Considerwhatfollowsthepithedversionofhappiness:mereshadowsplayingon
the cave wall, perhaps, but a big improvement over sitting in the dark. Or so
Ihope.
This is a theoretical work. But it is a work in ethical theory, and it is no
defect in such an effort if it has, as well, some practical import. Think of your
fondest childhood memories, or of the things that, to your mind, most make
lifeworthliving.What,onyourdeathbed,doyouexpectmosttoregretleaving
behind? I suspect that much of your answer will consist of intangibles: things
noteasilypinneddownandnamed,muchlessdescribed,andstilllessmeasured
andquantified.Intheprogressiveerawemodernsinhabit,thispresentsuswith
a problem: we are busily changing, more like remaking, the world to suit our
designs.Asageneralrule,wedonotundertakeambitiousconstructionprojects
and other major improvements for the sake of an ineffable...je ne sais quoi.
It is hard to build things for purposes you can’t name; harder still to get other
people to do it with you; and well nigh impossible to get other people to pay
for it. By and large, progress and development are driven by tangibles. And if
you have a problem with some proposed improvement, you will not likely get
far unless you can cite tangible, preferably quantifiable, values in your support.
‘‘Itjustdoesn’tfeelright’’tendsnottocutitwhenyouaretryingtogetpeople
tochangetheirplans.
Carried out in these terms, progress can be very expensive. The problem is
madeapparentinHatterasBlues,TomCarlson’srecentaccountofdevelopmentin
thetraditionalislandfishingcommunityofHatterasVillage.Economicprogress
was,atthetimeofhisvisitsthere,movingsofastthatsoon‘‘anentirewayoflife
would disappear, a commercial system of values based on the sea and a system
ofcommunityvaluesasoldastheMayflowerCompact.’’³Utterlytypicalofthe
process, repeated countless times elsewhere, was that ‘‘much of what was being
lostwasintangible—amannerofbeing,awayoflivingday-to-day—andwhat
wastangiblybeinglostwasbeinglostsoquicklythatitalmostseemedatrickof
theeye.TheW.H.Gaskinshouse,circa1860—theoldesthouseinthevillage,
here today, then, overnight, gone. Bulldozed for someone’s septic system.’’ To
whatend?Tomakewayforgarishdevelopmentslinedwithwildlyincongruous
palmtreesand‘‘huge,twentyroomMcMansions’’placedinprecariouslocations
along one of the most storm-swept beaches on theAtlantic seaboard. (In many
cases built, apparently, according to the ‘‘bigger fool’’ theory: made not to be
used, but to be sold to a bigger fool in a real estate version of hot potato.) The
localsdetestmanyofthechanges,yetaretooindependenttoorganizeeffectively,
an otherwise admirable quality that some fear will be what ‘‘gets this village
erased.’’ (Though they themselves were substantially complicit.) A developer
opines,‘‘F ‘em!IfIwanttobuildaminiaturegolfcourseandhavefireworks
andgiantclownswithflamesshootingouttheirasses,Iwill!’’⁴
Thereisnothingintangibleaboutgiantclowns:theirvaluehasafairlyprecise
measure,indollars.Peoplewantthem,andarewillingtopayforthem,knowing
Preface ix
prettywellwhattheywillgetinreturn:apredictabledoseofamusement,justlike
theonetheygotatthelastputt-puttgolfcourse.Againstsuchconcretebenefits,
how do you defend the ‘‘feel’’ of a place, or the inexpressible gratifications of
a ‘‘manner of being’’? (And how many dollars is it worth? Can you seriously
answerthatquestionwhileretaininganycapacitytoappreciatethevaluesyou’re
talkingabout?)Particularlywhensuchintangiblesaresocompletelylostonthose
with no familiarity or affection for the place. I suppose plastic clowns might
have a certain je ne sais quoi about them, too, just as an old island home built
from shipwreck timbers several generations back by your ancestors has its own
magic. Maybe. But that isn’t why they get built. So instead of a place, with a
vital,texturedlifeofitsown,youjustgetabunchofstuff,steam-shoveledinto
entertaintransientvisitorsuntilthenextstormwashesitaway.Variationsofthe
storyrecurinotherdomains,includingourpersonallives.Indeeditis,itseems
tome,thestoryofourage.
Thisisnotatractofsocialcritique.ButIwillnotbedispleasedifthediscussion
contributessomethingtotheappreciation,andhopefullythepreservation,ofthe
manifoldintangiblesthatmakelifeworthliving.