What does it mean to live a good life? While happiness is often regarded today as a personal goal and measure of wellbeing, earlier religious traditions approached human flourishing through a wider range of ethical, emotional and spiritual frameworks.
This international conference brings together scholars of early Judaism, Christianity and Islam to examine how ideas of emotional flourishing were understood and cultivated across these traditions, how understandings of flourishing developed over time, how ideas circulated across cultural and religious boundaries, and how these concepts informed individual and communal life. By examining historical perspectives on wellbeing, the event offers fresh insights into contemporary conversations about happiness, fulfilment and the human condition.
The conference will explore a range of themes, including:
Emotional wellbeing and flourishing in early Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Virtue, ethics and the good life
The role of emotions in moral and spiritual development
Religious understandings of pleasure, desire, joy and fulfilment
The transmission and development of ideas across traditions
Historical perspectives on wellbeing and their contemporary relevance
Programme
The two-day programme will feature keynote lectures, panel discussions and research presentations from an international group of scholars working across the fields of religious studies, history, theology and philosophy.
Keynote speaker
The keynote address will be delivered by Professor Darrin McMahon, whose influential scholarship has helped shape contemporary understanding of the history of happiness and human flourishing.
Speakers
The conference will feature contributions from scholars including:
This conference is organised by the British Academy in partnership with The Institute of Ismaili Studies and is supported through the British Academy and Wellcome Trust.
