Is there any such thing as happiness?

Dr Caroline West (University of Sydney)

Happiness is commonly believed to be an—if not the—important good in life, something that we have reason to seek in our own lives and to bring to others. But what is the nature of this supposed good? More fundamentally, is there really any such thing as happiness, as ordinarily conceived? I make a case for thinking that (strictly speaking) there is no such thing as happiness, and consider whether, in light of this, there is still a useful role for a concept of happiness.