PHIL 125: Happiness

What does happiness mean to you?

Everyone knows what happiness is, right? But what is it - really? If you’re interested in the answer, PHIL 125: Happiness is the course for you! This article will tell you everything you need to know about PHIL 125, including its key learning takeaways, class structure, and required readings and assignments. You’ll also hear from Dr. Brian Orend, who teaches the course. Read on to find out what it really means to live on cloud nine!

About PHIL 125: Happiness

What you’ll learn

PHIL 125 invites you to think critically about happiness and what it means to you. You’ll consider questions around the nature of happiness, such as if there are objective elements of happiness, what makes a happy life, and if the pursuit of happiness can ever end in success. In addition, you’ll think about how happiness can get thwarted, resulting in unhappiness or even depression. Finally, you get to think about your own beliefs concerning happiness, including if trying to attain it is worthwhile or inferior to other philosophical beliefs such as trying to find a life of purpose rather than happiness. And the best part? This course is open to all UW students, so you’ll be able to explore the ins and outs of happiness no matter your program or major.

Major themes

• Definition of happiness
  • PHIL 125 allows you to explore what happiness is based on how others define it as well as how you interpret it. You’ll have the opportunity to explore both “objective” accounts, as happiness being seen as a measurable form of well-being, as well as “subjective” ideas of happiness as individual pleasure.
• Relationship between the pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of meaning
  • Does being happy come from finding meaning? Is the pursuit of happiness a futile endeavour? You’ll get to decide for yourself through class discussions and assignments that focus on how happiness interacts with the purpose and meaning people search for in their lives.
• Personal beliefs and emotions
  • By thinking about your ideas concerning happiness and journaling about them, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your personal idea of happiness and the role of external factors that enable or thwart it. This includes experimenting with “happiness boosters,” or doing small things that make you happy every day, to track your relationship with happiness.

Why take this course?

PHIL 125 opens your mind to the different definitions of happiness, as well as what it means to live a happy life. Understanding these concepts can help you formulate your own views on happiness, as well as how you want to lead your life. You’ll also get to develop skills like critical thinking, writing, and communication through class discussion and debate. Unlike most courses at UW, you’ll be asked to journal about your thoughts and ideas regarding happiness, providing an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of yourself and help you think about how you can apply class theories to your personal experiences.

About Dr. Orend

Dr. Brian Orend is interested in human rights, justice, international law, moral and political philosophy, and happiness. He specializes in jus post bellum or “justice after war,” which is the ethics of reconstruction after a war has taken place. An accomplished writer, Professor Orend has published multiple books in his areas of interest, including The Morality of War (Broadview, 2nd ed., 2013), An Introduction to International Studies (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2019), and Human Rights: Concept and Context (Broadview, 2003). Most relevant for this course, he’s also written Seizure the Day: Living a Happy Life with Illness (Freehand, 2020).

Why do you like teaching this course?

“It's a novel subject at the university level, in spite of it being an evergreen subject of human interest. Many courses at university are very serious; it can be a nice break for everyone to do a rigorous investigation into a much lighter subject. The students are keen to know the research about it, and to have conversations on happiness.”

How do you engage students during class?

“I provide a lot of material. One objective I have is to impress upon students just how much interesting and diverse academic content there is with the subject - and we go through it together, giving priority in class to conversations and discussions about such. I also have some great documentaries which garner a bunch of interest and get people talking.”

What do you hope students will get out of this course?

“Mainly I hope they come out of the course with an awareness of the basic concepts, thinkers, and research in the ‘happiness literature.’ I also hope they personally engage with the material and ask themselves how they can use it in their own quest for happiness, as well as appreciation for high-quality multi-media sources related to happiness and well-being.”

Do you have a favourite topic in this course?

“They are all quite interesting. I like shifting from expected, ‘internal’ subjects such as emotional well-being to less expected, but still just as crucial ‘external’ subjects, like the role that social institutions should play in supporting and forwarding our happiness.”

Special thanks to Dr. Orend for providing an interview for this article!