Seminars of Philosophy of Perception, Mind, and Language

Dipartimento di Filosofia “Piero Martinetti” — Università degli Studi di Milano

Kevin Mulligan (Genève)

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March 23 Mon — 11.00-13.00

Aula Seminari — Aula Direzione di Dipartimento (Via Festa del Perdono 7, Milano)

Happiness, Luck & Kitsch.

Happiness, the sort of thing one may feel, is sometimes objectless. But sometimes happiness is about something. What exactly is it about ? Is one happy about the fact that one stands in certain relations to certain people, that one’s desires are satisfied  or that one has certain abilities, power, money or opportunities etc ? However such a list is completed or specified, following the latest indications of the happiness industry, it can at best be only a part of the answer. For the different things in the list are all typically the objects of emotions other than happiness. My fuller answer considers happiness from the point of view of a particular theory of emotions, a version of the appraisal theory, and argues that happiness stands to good luck (objective happiness)  in the same sort of relationship as, eg, indignation to injustice. In order to bring my answer into focus I consider the relation between happiness and being moved and the latter’s rôle in kitsch.