The overarching theme of the series is Happiness and this lecture serves as an introduction to the topic. Kenny spoke of how the subject has been of perennial interest to philosophers and theologians, and how it has in recent centuries become of interest to economists too. He spoke of how economists are fond of asking people if they are happy, through global series of questionnaires designed to discover in just what ways economic differences might impact on well-being. The evidence is highly indicative that after a certain level of wealth has been attained there is no further concomitant increase in happiness. Kenny is rightfully dubious of the value of these surveys and their measurement of 'Self-Ascribed Well-being' (SWB). He supposes that what we might really call well-being is actually a much more complex beast than what is being measured by these questionnaires. Well-being, he posits, consist of three components: contentment, which is what the SWB questionnaires measure; welfare, which can be objectively determined (health, nutrition, etc.); and dignity, which he sees as being the lynchpin of the triumvirate. Dignity can further be divided into three components: choice, by which he means the ability and freedom to choose or change our cultural identity, our social role and to participate in a political process; value, that is doing 'worthwhile' activities; and prestige, which means essentially having the respect of others. So Happiness for Kenny is a complex goal, and in many ways would appear to be a juggling act. It is possible, he points out, to have two of the three qualities (say, contentment and welfare – as in the happy slave), and to be happy to some extent, but ideally we should all wish to partake of the full set. What Kenny wasn't setting out to do in this lecture was to suggest necessarily paths to happiness, but rather to outline a plan of what we might be talking about when we talk of happiness, to analyse the concept and get to grips with what might otherwise be a rather nebulous label. This is often what philosophy is about, it certainly is where philosophy must begin. He's an affable academic and a perfectly engaging lecturer, navigating around the technical nuts and bolts without sowing seeds of confusion. At just an hour, including some interesting questions from the floor, this lecture seemed too short and I could have had more, which is why this annual lecture series in Reading's Town Hall is such a superb institution. Roll on week two! | 
