ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The three words in the title of this chapter, namely happiness, ethics and economics, signify different things, yet have strong interconnections. Happiness is essentially an affair of the individual self, a peculiar characteristic flowing from the emotional or spiritual experience and capacity of the individual, albeit influenced by external circumstances. Ethics, on the other hand, is normative and deals with conduct. Ethical norms prescribe the right conduct for individuals so that they can relate well to their fellow human being, individually and collectively. As the Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences puts it: “Ethics is the organisation or criticism of conduct in terms of notions like good, right or welfare” (1931: vol. V, 602). In this sense, ethics is concerned not merely with actual conduct, but with conduct as it should be, i.e. ideals. Economic values involve the understanding of economic phenomena in addition to “the opinions and desires” (Schumpeter 1954:38), concerning the way human beings organize their material, as opposed to spiritual life.
