Happiness

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), who was part of the movement known as phenomenology. While less well-known than his contemporaries Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, his popularity has increased among philosophers in ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Plato's Crito and Phaedo, his accounts of the last days of Socrates in prison in 399 BC as he waited to be executed by drinking hemlock. Both works show Socrates preparing to die in the way he had lived: doing philosophy. In the Crito, Plato shows ...  Show more

What does happiness mean to you?

The word 'happiness' came into common usage in around the 17th century, but the concept has a much longer history. So how have people conceptualised happiness over time – and how have they sought to attain it? Historian Katie Barclay is one of the editors of The Routledge History ...  Show more

What makes your life go well? Can you be wrong about whether you are happy? And can happiness be bad for you?

How much money do we need to be happy? Should we move heaven and earth to earn six figures, or can we be just as happy with less? Harry gets some answers from Matt Killingsworth, who created an app to track happiness in real time. Harry also learns why paying for experiences may ...  Show more