eBook - PDF
The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime
Political Theory in Literature
- 199 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
About this book
The Declaration of Independence claims that individuals need liberty to pursue happiness, but provides little guidance on the "what" of happiness. Happiness studies and liberal theory are incomplete guides. Happiness studies offer insights into what makes people happy but happiness policy risks becoming doctrinaire. Liberal theory is better on personal liberty, but weak on the "what" of happiness. My argument is that American novelists are surer guides on the pursuit of happiness. Treated as political thinkers, my book offers a close reading of four American novelists, Tom Wolfe, Walker Percy, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and their critique of the pursuit of happiness. With a critical and friendly eye, they present the shortcomings of pursuing happiness in a liberal nation but also present alternatives and correctives possible in America. Our novelists point us toward each other in friendship as our greatest resource to guide us towards happiness.
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime by Elizabeth Amato in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & Political Literary Criticism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Understanding the American Pursuit of Happiness
- 2 Tom Wolfe’s Status-Hungry America
- 3 Walker Percy’s Search
- 4 Edith Wharton’s Case for Happiness and Society
- 5 Hawthorne’s Hope for Friendship and Happiness
- 6 Sharing the Pursuit of Happiness
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author