ARTS-OF-LIVING
Ruut Veenhoven
In:
Journal of Happinessss Studies, 2003, vol. 4, pp.373-384, Special
issue on ‘Art-of-living’
ABSTRACT
The term 'art-of-living' refers to capabilities
for leading a good life. Since there are different views on what a good life
is, there could also be a difference in the capabilities called for. In this
paper I distinguish two main views on the good life: the 'virtuous' life and
the 'enjoyable' life and describe variants of each. I explore what competencies
are required for living such lives and conclude that these differ indeed. So
there are different arts of living. The set of capabilities required for leading a
happy life can be identified by means of empirical research. This
capability-profile comes close to the notion of ‘positive mental health’.