2006, ISBN: 9780871138866

Atlantic Monthly Press. Good. Hardcover. 2006. 544 pages. Dj worn and lightly soiled<br>An intellectual history of man's most elusive yet coveted goal. Today, we think of happi… Mehr…

Atlantic Monthly Press. Good. Hardcover. 2006. 544 pages. Dj worn and lightly soiled<br>An intellectual history of man's most elusive yet coveted goal. Today, we think of happin ess as a natural right, but people haven't always felt this way. Historian McMahon argues that our modern belief in happiness is a recent development, the product of a revolution in human expecta tions carried out since the eighteenth century. He investigates t hat fundamental transformation by synthesizing two thousand years of politics, culture, and thought. In ancient Greek tragedy, hap piness was considered a gift of the gods. During the Enlightenmen t men and women were first introduced to the novel prospect that they could--in fact should--be happy in this life as opposed to t he hereafter. This recognition of happiness as a motivating ideal led to its consecration in the Declaration of Independence. McMa hon then shows how our modern search continues to generate new fo rms of pleasure, but also, paradoxically, new forms of pain.--Fro m publisher description ., Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006, 2.5<

2006, ISBN: 9780871138866

Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2006. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. Book Condition: Very Good, Dust Jacket Very Good, Stated First Edition. r, 8vo, 544pp with index. Normal wear to book… Mehr…

Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, 2006. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. Book Condition: Very Good, Dust Jacket Very Good, Stated First Edition. r, 8vo, 544pp with index. Normal wear to book and DJ, Good reading copy. MY03, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006, 3<