“Sooner or later, everything old is new again.” — Stephen King
Martin E.P. Seligman Ph.D. was the newly elected head of the American Psychological Association. When asked to sum up the state of psychology at that time, he said, “not good enough.” Up till then, psychology had focused on the “negative” aspects of human behavior (such as depression, schizophrenia, “neurosis” etc.) Psychologists’ goal was to take people from a state of illness to a state of, well … “not illness.” But “not illness” is not the same as health, and that is why in 2000, Martin Seligman and another celebrated psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, created the movement of Positive Psychology.
Their goal was to create a psychology that promoted the positive aspects of human experience and help people to live happier, more engaged, and meaningful lives. But where do you start? Current psychology was moving in the wrong direction, so they decided to look back, way back. They studied classic books of philosophy, as well the Bible, The Bhagavad Gita, and even the Bushido code of the samurai. They found one common thread in all of those works, the importance of living with virtue.
Not only were the researchers able to identify the fundamental importance of virtue as the cornerstone of a good life, but they were able to identify six core virtues:
- 1. Wisdom
- 2. Courage
- 3. Love
- 4. Justice
- 5. Temperance
- 6. Spirituality
They then set out to scientifically study these six core virtues, and they found that putting these virtues into action leads to a happier, more productive, and more meaningful life.
Values + Action —> Virtue —> Better Life.
How can you start putting your values into action to live a more virtuous and better life? That is a big topic the Chuck B Philosophy will explore.
