Available Areas of Inquiry

These areas of inquiry are the logical next steps to advance my investigation.

1. Happiness requires three components, of which pleasure is but one. What of satisfaction and its relationship to optimism and pessimism? What of the absence of displeasure?

Everyday notions of happiness often focus on the pleasure element while neglecting satisfaction and the absence of displeasure. This tendency… is in tune with our consumer culture of instant gratification. True happiness is thought to be elusive,… pleasure is assumed to be quick and easy…. The result can be a one-dimensional form of pseudo-happiness from which satisfaction is lacking and displeasure is all too present.17

After all,

…anyone who attempts to rely exclusively on pleasure to make them happy is likely to have a struggle on their hands.18

2. Investigate how the three components of happiness correspond — or don't — with Zimbardo and Boyd’s six Time Perspectives.19

3. Consider the difference between pleasure and desire (liking vs. wanting), especially as it relates to art experience? What of visual attractiveness, marketability, etc.? Are there correlations between liking and wanting an art object, and do these correlations have any implications on the viewer's expectations of how a work of art performs?

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notes

17. Martin 149

18. Martin 148

19. Zimbardo & Boyd 52