<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Sustainability is part of the scientific mainstream; in the following paper we connect it with the phenomenon of happiness, which is becoming a discussed concept not only among researchers but also amongst public. This is due to the fact that today’s society has become a consumer society. This knowledge has provoked criticism of the prevailing lifestyle. The unprecedented growth of prosperity in the second half of the last century and at the beginning of the 21st century was achieved at the cost of environmental devastation. This presented the urgent question of how to improve the quality of life or bring happiness to a growing number of people. At the same time, efforts to replace GDP as a general measure of development with quality of life began to grow. In connection with happiness, it is important that it is defined in two ways: hedonic or eudaimonic. The aim of the paper is to find out which form of happiness is sustainable on the basis of the analysis of relevant works. Happiness is understood as part of the subjective dimension of quality of life, it represents the highest level of well-being. The combination of sustainability and quality of life or happiness is not new, some authors consider quality of life as the fourth pillar of sustainability. A key criterion for assessing which happiness is sustainable and which is not is the following assumption: <italic>The happiness of us – contemporaries − cannot be achieved at the expense of future generations.</italic> The knowledge-which of the forms is sustainable - is the result of the analysis of both forms of happiness.</p></abstract>

Sustainability is part of the scientific mainstream; in the following paper we connect it with the phenomenon of happiness, which is becoming a discussed concept not only among researchers but also amongst public. This is due to the fact that today’s society has become a consumer society. This knowledge has provoked criticism of the prevailing lifestyle. The unprecedented growth of prosperity in the second half of the last century and at the beginning of the 21st century was achieved at the cost of environmental devastation. This presented the urgent question of how to improve the quality of life or bring happiness to a growing number of people. At the same time, efforts to replace GDP as a general measure of development with quality of life began to grow. In connection with happiness, it is important that it is defined in two ways: hedonic or eudaimonic. The aim of the paper is to find out which form of happiness is sustainable on the basis of the analysis of relevant works. Happiness is understood as part of the subjective dimension of quality of life, it represents the highest level of well-being. The combination of sustainability and quality of life or happiness is not new, some authors consider quality of life as the fourth pillar of sustainability. A key criterion for assessing which happiness is sustainable and which is not is the following assumption: The happiness of us – contemporaries − cannot be achieved at the expense of future generations. The knowledge-which of the forms is sustainable - is the result of the analysis of both forms of happiness.

Linking sustainability and happiness. What kind of happiness?

Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences

Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra

GeoScape

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Linking sustainability and happiness. What kind of happiness?"}

Sustainability is part of the scientific mainstream; in the following paper we connect it with the phenomenon of happiness, which is becoming a discussed...

Linking sustainability and happiness. What kind of happiness?

Published Online: Jun 29, 2020

Page range: 70 - 79

Received: Apr 30, 2019

Accepted: Jun 15, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/geosc-2020-0007

Keywords
Sustainability, Happiness, Quality of life, Consumer society, Sustainable consumption, Good society

© 2020 František Petrovič et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Linking sustainability and happiness. What kind of happiness?

Published Online: Jun 29, 2020

Page range: 70 - 79

Received: Apr 30, 2019

Accepted: Jun 15, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/geosc-2020-0007

KeywordsSustainability, Happiness, Quality of life, Consumer society, Sustainable consumption, Good society

© 2020 František Petrovič et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Sustainability, Happiness, Quality of life, Consumer society, Sustainable consumption, Good society