How the Pursuit of Happiness Defines America

Prof. Rosen’s talk will draw on themes from his recent book, addressing what “the pursuit of happiness” meant to America’s Founders, and why it was included in the Declaration of Independence. He will highlight the classical Greek and Roman moral philosophers who inspired the Founders’ understanding of the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not just feeling good—as the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. America’s Founders believed that political self-government required personal self-government. For all six Founders, the pursuit of virtue was incompatible with the enslavement of African Americans, although the Virginians betrayed their own principles. Prof. Rosen will explore this iconic phrase in the American lexicon and what it can teach us about how to live purpose-driven lives.