It was on a transatlantic flight in 2015 that Tal Ben-Shahar began to reflect on the idea of ¡°a discipline, or rather an interdisciplinary field¡± devoted to the study of happiness.

Although he had been teaching positive psychology for many years, he writes in his new book,?Happiness Studies: An Introduction, that was focused on only one part of the picture. What would happen if psychological insights were combined with ¡°what philosophers, economists, theologians, artists, biologists and others all have to say about the good life¡±?

Yet, Dr Ben-Shahar says he knew of ¡°not a single institution of higher learning anywhere in the world that offered a degree in happiness studies¡± and ¡°no academic programme...focused on both micro happiness (individuals and relationships) as well as macro happiness (organisations and nations)¡±. There was clearly a gap in the market.

Following teaching positions at institutions including Harvard and Columbia universities, Dr Ben-Shahar decided to co-found??in 2017. Its one-year certificate programme, he told?Times Higher Education,?has now been offered to ¡°thousands of students from over 60 countries¡± and adopted by institutions such as the universities of Miami and San Diego. His longer-term plan is to persuade universities to establish master¡¯s degrees.

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Yet as well as ¡°real interest¡±, Dr Ben-Shahar has encountered ¡°scepticism because many people associate the conversation around happiness with New Age and charismatic gurus talking about the ¡®secrets¡¯ of happiness¡±. Although?Happiness Studies?was ¡°a self-help book, and unashamedly so¡±, it was also designed to overcome ¡°an unfortunate schism in academia between theory and practice...The fact that it¡¯s practical doesn¡¯t mean it isn¡¯t based on rigorous research and sound theory.¡±

The book is built round the SPIRE framework ? that real happiness involves spiritual, physical, intellectual, relational and emotional well-being ¨C and 12?core principles. These are said to be ¡°what axioms, theorems and laws are to maths¡±, but they are also explicitly described as ¡°a guide for further research and study¡± and ¡°a coherent structure for an academic class [or] degree course¡±.

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Happiness Studies?is very much structured around its?12 principles. So what does Dr Ben-Shahar make of the argument that, far from being solid foundations for an academic discipline, they include truisms, questionable assumptions and value judgements?

The ¡°principles¡± are certainly a very mixed bag. The idea that ¡°relationships are crucial for a full and fulfilling life¡± is?fairly uncontentious and backed up by research. More surprisingly, perhaps, Dr Ben-Shahar claimed there was ¡°scientific evidence that people who are curious and ask questions are happier and live longer¡±.

¡°Engaging in deep learning [to] fulfil our potential as rational animals¡± was also ¡°very important in today¡¯s world when we have lost the art of slow reading and become superficial gatherers of information instead of deep learners. That hurts our society on so many levels,¡± he said. Not least on campuses, where ¡°identity politics or cancel culture¡± led to ¡°skin-deep evaluations of a person or a theory¡±.

It is much harder to know how one could produce evidence for ¡°principles¡± such as ¡°everything is interconnected¡± or ¡°the ordinary is elevated to the extraordinary through mindful presence¡±, which also have a distinct whiff of the New Age guru. Another states that ¡°a purposeful life is a spiritual life¡±, although this is only justified by Dr Ben-Shahar¡¯s rather tautologous comment that ¡°a goal or an activity becomes purposeful ? a spiritual experience ? when it is significant and meaningful¡±.

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He explained that he ¡°wanted to lower the bar or change the standard for spirituality. I have met many spiritual people who do not subscribe to any religion¡­they experience a deep sense of meaning and purpose in what they do, whether they are in a house of worship or studying cells in a lab.¡±

Readers may well derive insights and even inspiration from Dr Ben-Shahar¡¯s book. Whether it can form the basis for a whole?new academic discipline remains to be seen.

matthew.reisz@timeshighereducation.com