Happy Mind: The Philosophy and Science of Happiness

Katherine Power reviews Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.

 

With style, and plenty of wit, Daniel Gilbert argues that what distinguishes humans from other animals is our ability to predict the future. Even so, our imagination does not always work wonders and we are often in the dark about what will make us happy – or unhappy. What's more, we are not much better when it comes to remembering past joys and sorrows.

 

"Despite the third word of the title, this is not an instruction manual that will tell you anything useful about how to be happy," says Gilbert. "Those books are located in the self-help section two aisles over, and once you've bought one, done everything it says to do and found yourself miserable anyway, you can always come back here to understand why."

 

Katherine Power reviews Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy by Simon Blackburn.

 

A clear introduction to the main questions of philosophy by the author of the The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. This isn't a big tome, but an accessible little book, which fits nicely in your bag and is fun to dip in, should you feel in the mood for some thinking about how much we can really say we know, or whether we have free will, or maybe what the relationship between the mind and the body is.