interview with Geoff Mulgan on happiness

The Open Democracy Happiness Debate continues, with an interview I did with Geoff Mulgan following the launch of Action for Happiness, of which he was one of the founders. I tried to press him on some of the philosophical and political weaknesses of the happiness agenda, as currently constituted, and he rebuffed the challenges fairly effectively. One of Mulgan's many great skills as a public intellectual, perhaps honed in the corridors of power, is to shift an argument onto positivist, evidence-oriented grounds when it suits him, while always remaining far smarter and theoretically aware than any outright positivist. Still, he remains a fascinating intellectual-entrepreneur-wonk or whatever the hell he is.

If you'd like to comment on the interview, please do so underneath the article itself.

Comments

[Phil]

I think that's the slipperiest interview I've ever read, so much so that I was seriously considering writing a parody as I read it. To take an obvious example, I was nodding along with the empiricist grumping about Negri and Zizek until I remembered how emphatic he'd been about his own philosophy being deontological rather than utilitarian. Well done for sticking at it, and not (as far as we can tell) beginning any questions "But in that case why the f***..."

[Ian C]

Interesting. See also this post by Mark Vernon on impending book by the Skidelskys on the Good Life:
http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/dotclear/index.php?post/2011/06/07/Keynes

[Phil]

I was seriously considering writing a parody

I gave in.