A contemplative approach to understand the secrets of lasting happiness

Philosophers, historians, economists, social scientists and creative arts practitioners will gather next week at the University of Hertfordshire to discuss what happiness means and how a greater depth of the state can be achieved.

A highlight of the conference - entitled Happiness - Perspectives from the Social Sciences, Humanities and Creative Arts, to be held at the University on Wednesday 17 March - is a keynote on the The Art of Happiness by Professor Richard Schoch from Queen Mary, University of London.

In a journey across cultures and centuries Professor Schoch, author of the The Secrets of Happiness: Three Thousand Years of Searching for the Good Life, will take a refreshingly contemplative approach to the question that is as vital today as ever: what does it mean to be happy?

"We want to know the secrets of happiness, but we're looking in the wrong places," he will say.  "What the scientists have concluded seems almost commonsensical.  Apparently, what makes us happy are sex, friends, job satisfaction, a stable family, and a short commute."

Professor Schoch will go on to argue why he believes the "new science" of happiness, associated with figures such as Lord Layard, the government's 'happiness guru', fails to yield significant insights and why "a higher salary, a flashier car, a bigger house fails to increase our happiness".

He will go on to look to philosophy for the key to lasting happiness, something deeper and vaster than ourselves.

Following Professor Schoch's keynote, University of Hertfordshire academics from the Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Research Institute (SSAHRI), will discuss new research findings relating to happiness from a number of fields.

Contributions will include a paper on the link between income, work and happiness, a study into life satisfaction among adolescent girls, and a philosopher's view of 'good' and 'bad' unhappiness.

"Several of the papers at this conference challenge the views of happiness that are prevalent in the media today, many of which focus on subjective well-being as the key to happiness," said Professor John Lippitt, Head of SSAHRI. "We will use this conference to demonstrate how rich resources from history, philosophy, religion and the creative arts, as well as social science, can deepen our understanding and experience of happiness."

Happiness - Perspectives from the Social Sciences, Humanities and Creative Arts will take place at the University of Hertfordshire's de Havilland campus from 12.30-7.30pm on Wednesday 17 March 2010.