We are now interviewing college graduates to see
the connection between their tastes and their social class fraction. We started
asking about why our subjects chose particular things or chose
particular services. We soon realized though, that the more
important question, the prior question, is to ask which choices seem like just utilitarian selection, and which
choices involve a moral element.
I have over the past few years also been studying
happiness, looking for what makes for a happy society.
I now see a point of convergence between these two lines of inquiry:
to ask people which of their choices seem to involve a moral element is
to ask them their conception of the happy life. In these questions, as we
add them up, we are discovering (together with our subjects) their vision
of eudaemonia - of a flourishing life.
3 comments:
Very interesting. Have you or will you publish any of your results? Believe it or not, I would actually read them.
Hope you and yours have a happy Thanksgiving.
This is very interesting, and you had a post previoulsy regarding some aspects of this. I hope that you follow with more of your findings and also some more explanation of the choices
This project on the connection between taste and class fraction - which we think of as the "country club and coffee house" study - is my main research project for the next year. I hope to be writing by the end of 2016. I'll keep posting as we develop thoughts.
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