Simply to be happy is evidently no mean task. In his new book, Wilhelm Schmid contemplates what constitutes happiness, what philosophy can contribute to the question, and what we can and must ourselves do. He focuses on an intellectual stance that we need take toward life; the art of accepting not only the highs but also the lows in life and to recognize meaning and linkages with all our senses.

What is happiness? It is a question that does not leave us in peace. Could it not be that precisely the constant hunt for happiness makes us unhappy? For happiness is nothing more than a word. What is decisive is what it is used to describe, what meaning the word is given that refers not only to »happiness« in the singular. In his new book, as a philosopher of the art of life Wilhelm Schmid studies the plethora of meanings more closely and how happiness relates to chance, to feeling good, to a wealth of opportunities, to being unhappy. Schmid counters the prophets of happiness who offer smart advice on how to be happy wherever you are and whoever you are by saying that happiness merely stands in for the more important question of what the »meaning« of it all is. But if meaning is no longer available in its own guise then it becomes a bit of an effort finding meaning and justifying it.

Selected Foreign Editions

Spanish edition released by Pre-Textos >>

Chinese simplex edition released by Shanghai Translation Publishing

French edition released by Autrement >>

Italian edition released by Fazi >>

Dutch edition released by Ambo/Anthos >>

Danish edition released by Informations Forlag >>

Finnish edition released by Ajatus >>

Korean edition released by Bookstory >>

Estonian edition released by Olion

Latvian edition released by Zvaigzne ABC

What We Gain as We Grow Older