Happy-People-Pills For All

Happy-People-Pills for All explores current theories of happiness while demonstrating the need to develop advanced pharmacological agents for the enhancement of our capacity for happiness and wellbeing.

• Presents the first detailed exploration of the enhancement of happiness
• A controversial yet rigorous argument that demonstrates the moral imperative for the development and mass distribution of ‘happy-pills’, to promote the wellbeing of the individual and society
• Brings together the philosophy, psychology and biology of happiness
• Maps the development of the next generation of positive mood pharmacology
• Offers a corrective to contemporary accounts of happiness

Acknowledgments ix

1 Introductory 1

2 What is Living and What is Dead in Brave New World 19

3 What DoWe Mean by ‘Happiness’? 41

4 The Elements of the Good Life: It is a Very Big List 72

5 Wellbeing and Virtue 100

6 Happiness Promotes Perfection 120

7 Happy Pharmacology 155

8 Arguments for Happy-People-Pills 187

9 Ethical Objections 206

10 Happy-People-Pills and Public Policy 233

Index 273

“The philosophical portions of the book are good enough, and I recommend Happy-People-Pills for All if you are interested in a fun “what-if” discussion.” (PsycCRITIQUES, 10 February 2014)

“Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. General readers.” (Choice, 1 January 2014)

Mark Walker is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at New Mexico State University, where he occupies the Richard L. Hedden Endowed Chair in Advanced Philosophical Studies. Dr. Walker also serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Evolution and Technology and on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.

Almost everyone seeks to achieve happiness in their lives, yet the thought of a pharmacological enhancement to our ability to be happy makes most people recoil in horror. Why is this? Happy-People-Pills for All explores the latest theories and debates on what it means to be “happy” while addressing the prospects for advanced pharmacological agents to enhance our capacity for happiness and wellbeing. As distinguished from “happy pills” (drugs that distort cognition), future “happy-people-pills” will mimic the positive emotional states of the hyperthymic temperament. Noting that contemporary social science research supports the view that happiness promotes achievement in the ‘higher’ endeavors of humanity—including work, love and virtue—this provocative text reveals how happy-people-pills could greatly benefit individuals in achieving these same goals. Moral and legal issues are also addressed, including the quandary of the government’s role in individual welfare—whether to be involved in the development and promotion of bio-happiness or to allow such pharmacological agents to be developed in the private sector. Original and thought-provoking, Happy-People-Pills for All offers illuminating insights into the possibility of a panacea for the enhancement of happiness in our everyday lives.

“A fascinating and provocative argument, beautifully made. This book challenges everything you believe about who deserves to be happy, and why.”

—Daniel Gilbert, Harvard University, Author of the bestseller Stumbling on Happiness


"A game-changing contribution to philosophical debates about happiness. Its arguments are ambitious, novel, and philosophically focused and its discussion wide-ranging."

—Nicholas Agar, Victoria University of Wellington, Author of Humanity's End: Why We Should Reject Radical Enhancement


"Happy-People-Pills is a great examination of the increasingly contentious issue of modifying our bodies and our moods through pharmacology. Laying out in precise detail the arguments for and against, Walker explains the importance of happiness for health, life, and love and gives a powerful case for using chemical technology to make more of it."

—Patrick Hopkins, Millsaps College, Author of Sex/Machine: Readings in Culture, Gender, and Technology