Donderdag 25 november zijn er in Amsterdam twee evenementen rond 'happiness'. De focus is op het algemene geluk ipv het persoonlijke. Daarmee gaat het met name over maatschappelijk en ecologisch handelen en de motivatie ervan.

15-17 uur: 'Happy planet and happy people: is it possible?'
Studenten uit Leiden, Utrecht en Amsterdam organiseren een gesprek met de bekende activist Nic Marks van de New Economics Foundation uit London (Zie Nic Marks eerder dit jaar bij TED: www.ted.com/talks/nic_marks_the_happy_planet_index.html). Kwela Hermanns uit Amsterdam draagt 'future of happiness in education' bij. Zie bijv. http://www.studentenvoormorgen.nl/?p=2&id=1603 , http://www.soleiden.nl/agenda.php en http://www.asvl.nl/ (locatie Hogeschool van Amsterdam - Amstelstation). Dank aan DHO, dit ontstond mede dankzij jullie eerdere oproep, en de inspanningen van de studenten!

19-21 uur: "the future of Happiness"
Deze discussie organiseert de Club of Amsterdam (www.clubofamsterdam.com) samen met de Hogeschool van Amsterdam en milliongenerations.org. Naast Nic Marks discuteren professor Ruut Veenhoven uit Rotterdam (Journal of Happiness Studies) en economieprofessor Maarten Vendrik uit Maastricht. Filosoof Tim Mulgan stuurde een bijdrage vanuit Princeton. Zie: http://www.clubofamsterdam.com/event.asp?contentid=827 (locatie Hogeschool van Amsterdam - Singelgrachtgebouw).

Voertaal is Engels.

Vriendelijke groet,

Michael Munker

van www.clubofamsterdam.com :

“Mankind”, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche observed, “does not strive for happiness; only the Englishman does that.” Yet, famously enshrined in the US constitution, the pursuit of happiness has conquered the world as a constant obligation: be happy now!

The ancient Greek sought “eudaimonia”, happiness, as the highest desirable good and the object of virtue. Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher and reformer, later turned utility, or “Greatest Happiness", into the basis or definition of virtue and made it useful as an organizing principle for society.

Advances in neuroscience, the empirical investigation of subjective well-being and quality-of-life studies have brought an evidence based understanding on what makes us happy. Once we have escaped from abject poverty, more wealth does not make us feel happier, yet the relative status it provides adds to our individual satisfaction. The reproductive advantage endowed by ambition and status ensures we always want twice as much as we have. This keeps our economy turning and suggests that we are destined to consume whatever there is without ever getting any happier.

No future for happiness, then? Some believe that happiness cannot only be measured but also taught, and that societies and economies, even a future, can be built on the idea that the opportunity to feel happy is truly valuable.

- What makes us happy? (Human nature, the individual perspective)
- What contributes to our common happiness? (The effect of society)
- How can there be most happiness? (The future of happiness)