Review Article: The Rise of Studying Happiness, but what of the Shadow of Unhappiness from Mental Illness?

Abstract

This essay is concerned with describing some issues associated with a relatively recent development in economics, viz. the economics of happiness literature. After providing a very brief account of the history of the concept of happiness, and the recent literature in economics, the focus turns to two issues that have been relatively neglected. First, there has been little attention in this recent literature to the concept of virtue or a flourishing life, or a moral disposition to happiness. Second, it is argued that the focus on aggregate happiness for a society in general may be misplaced: focus on subgroups, such as the mentally ill, may be more appropriate.