Virtues and Vices in Positive Psychology
A Philosophical Critique

This is the first book-length philosophical study of positive psychology, with a particular focus on positive education theory.

Kristján Kristjánsson (Author)

9781107562370, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 October 2015

266 pages, 2 tables
23 x 15.3 x 1.4 cm, 0.4 kg

Positive psychology is one of the biggest growth industries in the discipline of psychology. At the present time, the subfield of 'positive education' seems poised to take the world of education and teacher training by storm. In this first book-length philosophical study of positive psychology, Professor Kristján Kristjánsson subjects positive psychology's recent inroads into virtue theory and virtue education to sustained conceptual and moral scrutiny. Professor Kristjánsson's interdisciplinary perspective constructively integrates insights, evidence and considerations from social science and philosophy in a way that is easily accessible to the general reader. He offers an extended critique of positive psychology generally and 'positive education' in particular, exploring the philosophical assumptions, underpinnings and implications of these academic trends in detail. This provocative book will excite anyone interested in cutting-edge research on positive psychology and on the virtues that lie at the intersection of psychology, philosophy of mind, moral philosophy, education, and daily life.

List of tables
Acknowledgments
1. The personal, philosophical, educational, and historical contexts of positive psychology
2. Happiness and the virtues
3. Personality and the virtues
4. Moral ontology and the virtues
5. Moral motivation and the virtues
6. Situations and the virtues
7. Conflicts, practical wisdom, and the virtues
8. Positive experiences and the virtues
9. Education and the virtues
10. Concluding remarks
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Educational psychology [JNC], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Philosophy of mind [HPM]