Greater Happiness for a Greater Number Did the Pr

Authors: Ruut Veenhoven

Publish Date: 2015/10/19

Volume: 130, Issue: 1, Pages: 9-25

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Abstract

In the eighteenth century ‘Enlightened’ thinkers challenged the belief that happiness exists only in Heaven They claimed that happiness is possible in earthly life and foresaw that greater happiness would be achieved using reason Did this promise of greater happiness come true Several scholars doubt that we have become any happier and some claim that happiness has declined These critical claims are tested using the time trend data available in the World Database of Happiness which cover the period 1950–2010 and involve 1531 data points in 67 nations yielding 199 timeseries ranging for 10 to more than 40 years The analysis reveals that happiness has risen in most nations The average yearly rise in the 67 nations was +0012 on scale 0–10 which equals a rise of one full point every 83 years At this rate happiness must have improved by more than two points over the past two centuries and together with increasing longevity this denotes an unprecedented rise in happy life yearsThinking about happiness was not very positive in Europe in the ‘dark’ middle ages Thought was dominated by the church which rather glorified suffering with the crucified Christ as its main symbol In the religious perspective happiness had existed in Paradise before the fall and would be bestowed on true believers in afterlife but was not to be found in earthly life Earthly happiness was not only deemed to be impossible but also undesirable God had not expelled us from Paradise to enjoy life we were born in sin and suffering was seen as a way to clean our souls from sin and thus to prepare for entrance to Heaven Though not all church fathers denounced earthly happiness equally much this pessimistic view prevailed among other things because life was typically short and brutish in this phase of societal development Maryanski and Turner 1992 Sanderson 1995The intellectual ‘Enlightenment’ which began in the seventeenth century in Europe involved two radical changes in thinking an orientation on facts rather than on religious revelation and the use of reason rather than following custom and belief In this context a different view on happiness emerged Happiness came to be seen as something that is possible on earth which we should not renounce and that greater happiness can be achieved with the use of reason Happiness also came to be seen as something desirable which deserves to be promotedA lively discussion emerged on what happiness is precisely how it can be promoted and whether the state should care about the happiness of its citizens These matters were discussed in many newly emerging scientific societies and propagated in numerous books and pamphlets The literature in France is summarized in the monumental book by Mauzi 1960 and the discussion in the Netherlands is aptly described in Buijs 2007A radical variant of enlightened thought on happiness developed in the late eighteenth century in Scotland and is described by Bentham 1789 in his famous book On Morals and Legislation Happiness is defined as subjective enjoyment of life the sum of pleasures and pains and proclaimed to be the basis of morality The good or bad of all action should be judged by its effects on happiness the morally best alternative being the one that yields the ‘greatest happiness of the greatest number’ of people This consequential ethic is known as ‘utilitarianism’ Applied to policy making it means that governments should aim to promote their citizen’s happiness in the first place and should do so by following fact and reason rather than ideologyWhat ever it’s precise definition or moral appreciation the idea of happiness became part of the wider progress optimism that characterizes the European Enlightenment human life could be better should be better and it would get better than it was This change of view on life was linked to a gradual improvement in living conditions in particular for the new middle classMany changes envisioned by the Enlightened thinkers in the eighteenth century have become true Reason has largely replaced traditional belief in modern society with its large research industry and expanded educational sector Rationality has pervaded many life domains such as health care and management Political rule is no longer based on heritable rights but has become more democratic and technocratic As a result the material standard of living has improved to such a degree that the average citizen lives now more comfortably than kings did in the past We live not only more comfortably but also much longer since lifeexpectancy at birth has almost doubled over the last 200 yearsThough progress in these fields is undisputed there is still doubt that we have become any happier and there are even claims that happiness has declined Such notions are found both among nostalgic romantics and among hardcore social scientists The doubts roots both in theory and in empirical indications

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