The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) welcomed leading scholars of early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to the Aga Khan Centre this week. The two-day conference, “Before ‘the Pursuit of Happiness’: Emotional Flourishing in Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam“, took place on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 July 2026.
Dr Karen Bauer, Associate Professor in Qurʾanic Studies at IIS, convened the conference alongside Dr Françoise Mirguet of Arizona State University and Dr Daniel An of Yonsei University. The British Academy organised the event in partnership with IIS, with further support from the Wellcome Trust.
Before the pursuit of happiness
Happiness and wellbeing are trending topics today. Their history, however, remains far less studied and understood. In the English-speaking world, happiness is now widely treated as both a positive feeling and a positive value — something to pursue actively. Yet this association is historically contingent.
The meaning and moral status of happiness have long been debated. Early religious thinkers examined the relationship between virtue, the state of being good, and pleasure, the feeling of goodness. Despite growing scholarly interest in the history of happiness, comparative studies of emotional ideals between religious traditions remain surprisingly rare. The conference directly addressed that question. Specialists in early Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thought explored what flourishing meant before the pursuit of happiness became dominant in western culture.
What the conference explored
Participants considered how ideals of emotional flourishing developed over time within each tradition. They also examined how they intersected and influenced one another across religious communities, and which social and moral functions they served. Themes included virtue, ethics, and the good life; the role of emotions in moral and spiritual development; and religious understandings of pleasure, desire, joy, and fulfilment.
Speakers also considered how these historical perspectives speak to contemporary conversations about happiness, fulfilment, and the human condition. The conference thus offered a significant contribution to the interdisciplinary study of human wellbeing, illuminating a rich and understudied intellectual history.
Keynote and speakers
Professor Darrin McMahon, a leading historian of the idea of happiness, delivered the keynote address. The wider programme featured research presentations and panel discussions from scholars drawn from institutions across North America, Europe, West Asia, and East Asia.
Contributors included Andrew Crislip, David Lambert, Erez DeGolan, Eyad AbuAli, Julia Bray, Han Hsien Liew, Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Katherine Hockey, Katharina Heyden, Kylie Crabbe, Nancy Khalek, and Sara Kipfer, alongside the three convenors. These scholars encompass disciplines such as religious studies, history, theology, and philosophy.
Sobre os organizadores
Dr Karen Bauer researches the Qurʾan and the history of its reception, women and gender in the Qurʾan and Islamic thought, and the history of emotions. Her publications include Women, Households, and the Hereafter in the Qurʾan: A Patronage of Piety (Oxford University Press, 2023, co-authored with Feras Hamza) and Gender Hierarchy in the Qurʾan: Medieval Interpretations, Modern Responses (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
Dr Françoise Mirguet is Associate Professor of Ancient Hebrew and the History of Emotions at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on emotions and the history of the self in late antique Jewish literature. Her book An Early History of Compassion: Emotion and Imagination in Hellenistic Judaism (Cambridge University Press, 2017) is a key contribution to the field.
Dr Daniel An is Assistant Professor of Church History at Yonsei University in Seoul. His research draws on archaeological materials and textual sources in Greek, Syriac, and Coptic relevant to the social history of early Christianity in West Asia. His first book, Fear of God: Practicing Emotion in Late Antique Monasticism, appeared with the University of California Press in 2025.
