Is transcendence happiness?: Review of Wellbeing by Mark Vernon

English philosopher Mark Vernon edits a series called The Art of Living, containing a dozen books with one-word titles like Hunger, Work and Decepti0n, all meant to ‘engage wide audiences’ to philosophical takes on everday life. I suspect Vernon’s own contribution to the series, Wellbeing, is at the heart of the series, and I certainly bought it because its central concern, the question ‘just what is happiness’ is an important one. I haven’t read ‘serious’ philosophy since my early 20s, so I might not be the most appropriate reader to judge Wellbeing, but since this slim volume is meant to be ‘accessible,’ I have no excuse.

Vernon is an engaging, stylish writer who expresses philosophical ideas plainly and eloquently. He aptly quotes philosophers and thinkers from all eras. Modern experiences are incorporated, as well as personal insights. In the book’s early pages, Vernon explores different notions of ‘happiness’ before ditching the term for another: ‘wellbeing.’ Predictably, but I must admit persuasively, he suggests wellbeing is not just gaining pleasure and avoiding suffering, but something more: ‘Pleasure matters. But meaning matters more.’ According to him, what matters most is being open to transcendence, a notion that he treats in a broad fashion, allowing room for religious belief as well as more Eastern methodologies. Finally, he spends a chapter exploring love, or something called ‘the good.’ He never hectors, he combines logic with more intuitive reasoning, and the ideas flow smoothly.

If you’re troubled by lack of existential meaning (‘what’s the point’), Wellbeing would make for an absorbing, possibly most useful read.