POLS 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Oligarchy, Aristocracy, Derek Bok
18 Apr 2016
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Important to distinguish two different accounts of happiness: hedonic (pleasurable) enjoyment: getting what you want (i. e. materialistic wants, bentham: good life = maximizes this pleasures ii. Eudaimonia: experiences enjoyed when one does what is most worthwhile doing [objective, perfectionist account of happiness] Happiness is an activity [activity of the soul in accordance with complete virtue] Derek bok: the politics of happiness --> on exam. Elizabeth dunn - spending money on others promotes happiness. Pro-social spending is shown to be beneficial towards health (two distinct control groups each given sum of money, one is to spend on themselves, one for others) He assumes a rational-choice model of cost-benefit and cost-effective. Small cost for huge reward = do it. Small cost for uncertain to no reward = don"t do it. If rational agent, there won"t be a justification to vote. Aristelian approach is that humans are maximum utility maximizers o o. Plato: more isolated picture, justice is a unitary psychological phenomenon.
