Habron: Happiness is what Marvin Minsky called a suitcase word. He says there are different legitimate ways to use the word and nobody really owns it. In many languages, you find a word that would translate happiness in that sense. Habron: I think for most of the purposes when we talk about how happy someone is or unhappy,. whether people are happier today than they were 30 years ago.
Philosopher and author Daniel Haybron of St. Louis University talks about his book, Happiness, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Happiness turns out to be a little more complicated than it sounds. Haybron discusses the good life and different philosophical perspectives on how to achieve happiness.