TY - JOUR
T1 - Positive Psychology, Happiness, and Virtue
T2 - The Troublesome Conceptual Issues
AU - Kristjánsson, K.
N1 - Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2010/12/1
Y1 - 2010/12/1
N2 - This article subjects the recently prominent theory of positive psychology to critical conceptual scrutiny, with emphasis on its general take on happiness, virtue, and positive emotion. It is argued that positive psychology suffers from internal divisions (such as divergent views of its proponents on what happiness is), ambiguities (e.g., regarding the possibility of nonvirtuous happiness), ambivalence (concerning self-realism vs. anti-self-realism), and at least one serious misconception (the assumption that any view that makes overall evaluative judgments thereby prescribes). Nevertheless, many of the charges commonly urged against positive psychology, in particular by Aristotelian theorists, do not stick, and we may be well advised to give it the benefit of our doubt.
AB - This article subjects the recently prominent theory of positive psychology to critical conceptual scrutiny, with emphasis on its general take on happiness, virtue, and positive emotion. It is argued that positive psychology suffers from internal divisions (such as divergent views of its proponents on what happiness is), ambiguities (e.g., regarding the possibility of nonvirtuous happiness), ambivalence (concerning self-realism vs. anti-self-realism), and at least one serious misconception (the assumption that any view that makes overall evaluative judgments thereby prescribes). Nevertheless, many of the charges commonly urged against positive psychology, in particular by Aristotelian theorists, do not stick, and we may be well advised to give it the benefit of our doubt.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=yv4JPVwI&eid=2-s2.0-78650282764&md5=137110051e16314f86fac1d8c1e12e52
U2 - 10.1037/a0020781
DO - 10.1037/a0020781
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78650282764
SN - 1089-2680
VL - 14
SP - 296
EP - 310
JO - Review of General Psychology
JF - Review of General Psychology
IS - 4
ER -