Separated at Eden,
thrown back into One;
one cluster of body and soul,
of humans and God.
As nature prevails,
happiness ensues from the grasping of all. [1]

This volume brings together researchers who analyse and describe the concept of happiness in its various appearances in the history of thought. The book begins with the very first writings in Greek literature and historiography (Homer, Hesiod and Herodotus in the 8^th and 5^th centuries BCE), moving through early Greek philosophy (the Presocratics, 6^th-5^th centuries BCE) and into Classical, Hellenistic, and Neoplatonic thought (5^th century BC to the 3^rd century). It then explores early and late medieval mysticism (Sufism and Kabbalah, at their respective heights in the 12^th and 16^th centuries), 10^th century Christian manuscript writings, the medieval Hindu philosophy of liberation (the Haṭhayoga tradition in its formative period of the 11^th to the 15^th century), as well as early modern philosophy (Baruch Bendictus Spinoza in the 17^th century) and contemporary Positive Psychology.

Happiness appears in many forms, all of which are connected to the human sense of approaching oneness with the world and/or the divine. The very first terms for happiness appearing in Greek literature and discussed in the opening chapters of this volume are olbos (ὄλβος, material fulfilment), makaria (μακαρία, feeling bliss), and eutuchia (εὐτυχία, good luck). The early Greek writers sought to define the place of humans in relation to the divine, finding happiness in the wealth or luck provided by the gods. A term elaborated in the more developed, classical Greek philosophy of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle is eudaimonia (εὐδαιμωνία). The literal meaning of this term is “a good demon” (or rather having a well-meaning divinity dwelling upon us), but its actual meaning is simply well-being, which is to say remaining well and stable amidst the fluctuating and unpredictable conditions of human existence.

We set out on our quest for human happiness with Fiorenza Bevilacqua, who in the first chapter, “Human Happiness: from Homer to Herodotus”, presents the first appearances of “happiness” in Greek thought. These are discussed through Homer’s epic poem Iliad and Herodotus’ historiographic essay Histories, with further examples from Greek drama. In these writings happy people are described as those who live life as best as they can in the short time allotted to them, understanding that human existence is totally subject to chance and to the gods’ envy.

The second chapter by Stefania Giombini, “Happy City: Justice, Law, and Happiness in Pre-Platonic Thought”, considers various authors of the pre-Platonic era who dealt with happiness through the prism of social or communal wellness. Giombini walks us through different literary genres of this early period: tragedy and lyrical poetry, the fragments of Thales’ and Heraclitus’ philosophy, the writings of the Sophists, myths of human creation, and the fragments of the Pluralists’ writings. These all show that, in pre-Platonic thought, the happiness of individuals is inseparable from the happiness of the community and that both are tied together with the pivotal concept of justice (dike, δίκη).

The editor of this volume discusses eudaimonia in the third chapter, “Eudaimonia – Happiness in Classical Greek and Hellenistic Philosophy”, in relation to the classical and Hellenistic philosophers of happiness. Even though Plato’s philosophy is defined as dualistic in nature (separating the temporary realm of human existence from the eternal realm of the divine ideas), this chapter shows how Classical and Hellenistic conceptions of eudaimonia still encapsulate the human struggle for oneness: happy people are those who grasp divine ideas and manage to live life with full awareness of divinity or pure thought (logos, λόγος) as a guiding force.

With the rise of Neoplatonism in western philosophy alongside mysticism in early monotheistic traditions, we observe this quest for oneness in full force (see the fourth chapter, “Happiness: From Neoplatonism to Spinoza, through Medieval Mysticism”, by the editor). The Neoplatonists broke the platonic linear paradigm that separated heaven from earth, creating a new spherical paradigm where the divine One is constantly emanating outwards and we humans are equipped with the skills to ascend towards it and merge with it. The Neoplatonic eudaimonia becomes the basis for Sufi (Muslim) oneness with God, as well as Kabbalistic (Jewish) ascension in the Sefirot (spheres) toward Einsof (אינסוף, the unlimited). This chapter ends in the early modern period with the Jewish philosopher Baruch Benedictus Spinoza (1632-1677) who created an eminent system of philosophy where God and Nature are one, and happiness ensues from loving and rationalizing the whole – or, more specifically, the intellectual love of God or Nature.

The fifth chapter by Martina Lamberti, “Penitence and Redemption in the Vercelli Book: towards Hyhta Mæst”, discusses the conceptions of happiness in the 10^th century Anglo-Saxon codex, the Vercelli Book. This Old English manuscript, containing homilies, poems, and hagiographies, was designated to instruct the Christian devotee in a life of penitence, observance, and abstinence to gain what was considered to be the greatest of joys (hyhta mæst). The concept of real happiness, which actualises in heaven, is emphasised in the codex through the motif of journeying (sīþ) that represented, according to the medieval mind, the metaphorical path towards eternal salvation.

The sixth chapter by Hagar Shalev, “The Notion of Happiness in the Medieval Haṭhayoga Tradition”, focuses on India in the 11^th to 15^th centuries, following the development of happiness in the Hindu Haṭha Yoga tradition. Happiness is described in terms of freedom from the cycles of life – namely, mokṣa (liberation) and samādhi (meditative absorption). This freedom is presented either as external to the body, or, as stressed by Shalev, in terms of embodied liberation, which is to say having our souls liberated during our earthly existence through various yogic practices. Here too, we see the struggle for happiness as a quest for oneness by mentally breaking the boundaries between ourselves and the cosmos, and, for an instance (or maybe longer), becoming one with it.

The final chapter of this volume by Deborah Court, “Creative Fulfilment”, gives us a glimpse into contemporary positive psychology, where happiness and fulfilment are tied to creativity where creative people make a statement in this world, fulfil their unique potentials, and find meaning in our otherwise unfathomable realm of existence. The creative mind in its state of inspiration, may (if we go back through centuries of human culture and thought) be allotted the short term of blessing by the gods. In this state, a person may grasp the divine ideas or the cosmic logos, participate in the mystical ascension toward the One, or experience embodied liberation, or even intellectually love God or Nature. It is in the work of a community guided by justice (dike), or the work of individual humans – as exemplified by the Herodotean anti-hero, the Sufi and Kabbalistic mystic, the Christian devotee, the yogic practitioner, the rational philosopher and the inspired artist – that we discover, again, the creation of happiness by means of unity with a higher idea, moving toward oneness with a higher realm.  

Let us delve into the history of happiness and fulfillment from Homer to Positive Psychology, through literature, philosophy, and mysticism from across the East and West.

[1] "From Two to One", a Poem by N. Alon Amit.

Nili Alon Amit is a Visiting Research Scholar at UCLA Nazarian Center for Israel Studies (2020-2022). She earned her PhD in Greek Philosophy from Haifa University in 2013. Her research explores the origins and development of soul, virtue, education and happiness in the history of thought. Her recent publications include the book Happiness, Stability and Transcendence in Western Religion, Philosophy and Poetry (2021).

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