Overview: Editorial Review

The dream of a happy life has pre-occupied thinkers since Plato, and is the signature tune of our times. In The Happiness Paradox Ziyad Marar shows how our modern obsession with happiness has evolved. In a lively and accessible style, he argues that happiness is a deceptively simple idea that will always be elusive because it is based on a paradox: the conflict of feeling good while simultaneously being good.

Drawing on a wide and varied range of sources from psychology, philosophy, history, novels, and film, this book will engage those who are looking for meaning in a secular culture. It challenges our conventional search for happiness, while suggesting a bolder way to live with paradox.