St. Augustine is best known for his religious writings. However, despite his strong relationship with God he struggled throughout his life and did not always have a positive or happy relationship with the world around him. Specific episodes in his life were traumatic in nature and can help to explain...

Based on the assumption that morally right actions are bound to produce the most good, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill reinterpreted Epicurus’ pleasure-centered moral theory in such a way to identify a new set of moral principles that would promote happiness and well-being. As the founder of classical utilitarianism,...

A man and his girlfriend are eating at a restaurant one day. The two are enjoying a wonderful moment and it's at this exact point that the man gets down on one knee, pulls a box from his pocket and takes a ring out, asking his beloved to spend the...

The processes through which human beings experience emotion are highly complex and multifaceted. As with most human behaviours and experiences, emotions are shaped by both biological and environmental factors. The debate (nature versus nurture) over which element has more influence over the resultant state of mind is ongoing and contentious....

Happiness has been a difficult science, as skeptics have difficulty defining and quantifying the subject. The definition may be adequately described by a “positive emotional state” (Bartram, 2011). Descriptions of happiness through theories such as set-point theory and comparison theory have a fatalistic view of the value of happiness and...