Five historic philosophers discuss human flourishing and happiness in positive psychology: A speculative dialogue in three acts

This chapter talks about five historic philosophers who discuss human flourishing and happiness in positive psychology. The five historic philosophers are: Aristotle, Chrysippus, Jeremy Bentham, Soren Kierkegaard, and Pierre Bourdieu. The chapter discusses the some of the Act, such as, puzzles about pleasure, puzzles about transcendence, and puzzles about positive education. Positive psychology purports to draw upon an array of historical and philosophical sources, ranging from Aristotle and the Stoics to utilitarianism and existentialism. The concept of resilience central to Stoic thought features a great deal in positive psychology, particularly in its applied form of positive education, through a link provided by cognitive behavioural therapy, a modern form of Stoicism. Doubtless Kierkegaard would also have weighed in on positive psychology’s grasp of the particular virtues of forgiveness, gratitude and hope, and would have been disappointed with the positive psychological tendency to instrumentalise them as means of effecting emotional regulation.