HARTFORD ETHICS GROUP
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The Hartford Ethics Group is a monthly discussion group on bioethics themes coordinated by James Hughes and Miller Brown of Trinity College.
For more information, or to submit a topic, please contact James Hughes
at: james.hughes at trincoll.edu
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Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 - 7pm
Venue: Walton Room, 2nd floor of the Trinity College Library Directions
Speaker:
James J. Hughes
Lecturer, Public Policy, Trinity College Executive Director, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
“The Problems with Happiness”
In the history of moral philosophy happiness has either been a derivative of moral behavior or its direct goal. But we now know that individuals have a “set-point” for happiness that determines half of their subjective well-being. We routinely make decisions that we think will lead to happiness for ourselves and others that really don’t, and rationalize to nonetheless make ourselves happy with our lives. In the emerging era of neurotechnology we will likely be able to directly control our own moods and perceptions to make ourselves experience greater happiness. In light of our growing understanding and future abilities is it time to set aside happiness as a goal, and adopt instead freedom and flourishing as our ends? What problems are posed by the use of drugs, gene therapy and brain machines to control mood?
Two papers for review for this meeting are:
“In Praise of Bio-Happiness” Mark Walker Ph.D.
“The Hedonistic Imperative” David Pearce
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