ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a set of human personal and social problems that spring up when the conditions on which positive life depends are lacking or undermined. A positive sociology must be concerned with two major types of consequence of negativeness in a society. One is individual: one or more conditions of negativeness can become a personal problem. The other is social: one or more conditions of negativeness can coalesce into a social problem. Positive sociology is the study of what people want, of the rewarding, satisfying, fulfilling things they search for to make their existence attractive, worth living. Positive sociology can also contribute to amelioration of a number of problems that people face today, be they personal, social, or extra-social. Martin Seligman brings us to the jumping off point for a positive sociology and the role of happiness, when he argues that “authentic happiness” comes from realizing our potential for enduring self-fulfillment.
