Happiness and the Pursuit of the Good Life
Ancient wisdom, modern psychology, and the search for a life well lived.
For the full show notes and a link to the chatbot companion, see mlsatlow.com.
Happiness and the Pursuit of the Good Life
Latest Episodes
Episode 5: Pleasure Under the Sun
Nothing lasts. The work, the worries, the possessions, the reputation, even the memory of having been here—all of it eventually disappears. Ecclesiastes does not answer this problem by discovering some hidden permanence. It asks whether t...
Episode 4: What Pleasure Costs
Pleasure sounds simple until we try to name it. A piece of chocolate, relief from pain, a long conversation, intoxication, falling in love, and the quiet after anxiety subsides can all feel good, but not in the same way. We seek some plea...
Episode 3: What Does it Mean to Flourish?
How are you different from a fruit fly? The obvious answer is that you can reason, plan, and ask what your life is for. Aristotle takes that difference seriously. If reason is what makes us distinctively human, then perhaps the good life ...
Episode 2: Can Happiness be Measured?
How happy are you? The answer may depend less on your life than on the question you are asked, the scale you are given, and whether you slept well the night before. Happiness looks reassuringly precise when it becomes a score. But every measure...
Episode 1: When Achievement is Not Enough
You did what you were supposed to do. You learned to clear hurdles, delay gratification, and move toward the next visible sign of success. The strange part is that success can arrive without answering the question that set all this motion in th...
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