The Good Life: Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-BeingOxford University Press, 2014 M12 1 - 240 páginas Philosophers defend theories of what well-being is but ignore what psychologists have learned about it, while psychologists learn about well-being but lack a theory of what it is. In The Good Life, Michael Bishop brings together these complementary investigations and proposes a powerful, new theory for understanding well-being. The network theory holds that to have well-being is to be "stuck" in a self-perpetuating cycle of positive emotions, attitudes, traits and accomplishments. For someone with well-being, these states -- states such as joy and contentment, optimism and adventurousness, extraversion and perseverance, strong relationships, professional success and good health -- build upon and foster each other. They form a kind of positive causal network (PCN), so that a person high in well-being finds herself in a positive cycle or "groove." A person with a lesser degree of well-being might possess only fragments of such a network -- some positive feelings, attitudes, traits or successes, but not enough to kick start a full-blown, self-perpetuating network. Although recent years have seen an explosion of psychological research into well-being, this discipline, often called Positive Psychology, has no consensus definition. The network theory provides a new framework for understanding Positive Psychology. When psychologists investigate correlations and causal connections among positive emotions, attitudes, traits, and accomplishments, they are studying the structure of PCNs. And when they identify states that establish, strengthen or extinguish PCNs, they are studying the dynamics of PCNs. Positive Psychology, then, is the study of the structure and dynamics of positive causal networks. The Good Life represents a new, inclusive approach to the study of well-being, an approach committed to the proposition that discovering the nature of well-being requires the knowledge and skills of both the philosopher in her armchair and the scientist in her lab. The resulting theory provides a powerful, unified foundation for future scientific and philosophical investigations into well-being and the good life. |
Contenido
1 | |
1 The Network Theory of WellBeing | 7 |
2 The Inclusive Approach to the Study of WellBeing | 14 |
3 Positive Causal Networks and the Network Theory of WellBeing | 35 |
4 Positive Causal Networks and Positive Psychology | 59 |
An Inference to the Best Explanation | 108 |
6 Issues in the Psychology of Happiness and WellBeing | 149 |
7 Objections to the Network Theory | 184 |
8 Conclusion | 208 |
213 | |
231 | |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
The Good Life: Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-being Michael A. Bishop Vista previa limitada - 2015 |
The Good Life: Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-Being Michael A. Bishop Sin vista previa disponible - 2016 |
Términos y frases comunes
affect-stabilizing mechanisms argue Aristotelian attitudes authentic happiness view better causal drivers character strengths cognitive commonsense judgments correlated culture cycle degree of well-being Diener dynamics of PCNs empirical environments evaluations example experience machine explain extraversion fact favorable feelings Felicity’s fraternal twins friendship genetically determined hedonic adaptation hedonist heritability homeostatic identify ill-being inclusive approach informed desire theory intuitive involve judgments about well-being Kahneman live option measure ments moral nature of well-being negative network theory Norm of Reaction objective happiness one’s optimism PCN fragments people’s person person’s well-being philosophers plausible pleasure posi positive affect positive causal networks positive emotions positive hedonic tone Positive Psychology problem professional success promote well-being proposed relationship robust PCN robustness curve satisfaction satisfied science of well-being Seligman sense set point strengthen study of well-being Sumner Suppose SWB instruments tend theory of well-being tion tive traditional approach traits twins raised understand values virtues What’s