Most human beings want happiness for themselves and their loved ones. It is reported that the Dalai Lama once said, “Whether one believes in religion or not, we are all seeking something better in life — the very motion of our life is toward happiness.” And William James started one of the chapters in The Varieties of Religious Experience this way:

As we will see, there are some gloomy souls who deny that happiness is our chief concern and claim something else as a greater good but, even among the vast majority who agree with the Dalai Lama and James, questions arise about what happiness is and where we might find it. These two questions supply the subject matter of this chapter. Our ultimate question: How might schooling contribute to the attainment of happiness? will only be hinted at in this chapter, but keeping it in mind will help us to evaluate the views under consideration. I do not attempt a chronological account of happiness here, but I will start with classical views because they have been and continue to be so powerful in educational thinking.