On episode 228, we welcome Lorraine Besser to discuss the philosophy of the interesting, why the obsessive pursuit of success tends to backfire, Aristotelianism and Epicureanism, psychological richness as an alternative to happiness, the arrival fallacy, the importance of experiences, cultivating a mindset of open-mindedness, Lorraine’s own story of being unfulfilled by professional success, why we resort to cultivating envy, the problems arising from long-term happiness, and how ‘interesting’ differs from ‘flow’ and ‘awe.’

Lorraine Besser, PhD, is a professor of philosophy at Middlebury College, who specializes in the philosophy and psychology of the good life and teaches popular courses for undergraduates on happiness, well-being, and ethics. An internationally recognized scholar, she was a founding investigator on the research team studying psychological richness. She is the author of two academic books (The Philosophy of Happiness: An Interdisciplinary Introduction and Eudaimonic Ethics: The Philosophy and Psychology of Living Well) and dozens of professional journal articles on moral psychology. Her newest book is called The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It.

| Lorraine Besser, PhD |

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► The Art of the Interesting Book | https://bit.ly/3Eob8U4

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