I’ve not bumped into John Armstrong before, which presumably says more about me than him. He’s been a busy bee in the new burgeoning field of popularising philosophy having published The Secret Power of Beauty (2004) and Conditions of Love (2002) and is about to publish Love, Live, Goethe: how to be happy in an imperfect world.
Anyway I liked this article and especially liked the last para – which is as follows.
We need to reintegrate the pursuit of happiness – and the philosophical discussion of happiness – with the rest of our public culture. Rather than nag or complain about other people, we should try to make them happy, in the wise conviction that what is genuinely good is also the proper basis of a satisfying life. The crucial point is the move from “feels good now” to “is rewarding for the long term”. Most people can see that very clearly when it comes to money, but it applies just as much in the arts, in relationships, in politics and education.