This book sums up 100 of years of research into the study of happiness-from 19th century scientific insights on the subject to the pop psychology perspectives of modern-day America. We all want to be happy, but what does that mean, and how do we get there? These questions may be a popular topic of positive psychology books in recent years, but interest in the subject stretches back over a century. Distinguished authors Nathan Carlin and Donald Capps examine opinions, research studies, and insights about happiness from the 18th century through today. 100 Years of Happiness: Insights and Findings from the Experts is organized into three sections-one that explores insights from philosophers, another part that reviews study results from researchers, and a final section that casts some skepticism on the study of happiness. The authors review what the experts have found, and explore such questions as: Is happiness the goal of life? Is it possible to measure happiness? Is it possible to become happier? What is the difference between unhappiness and depression? If humankind could eliminate unhappiness from the human condition, should we? This fascinating text provides a basis for readers to develop their own conclusions, and to continue humankind's ongoing discourse on the subject. Concise summaries of classic debates on the meaning of happiness An examination of cultural and individual belief systems regarding happiness

Synopsis: The emotional separation of boys from their mothers in early childhood enables them to connect with their fathers and their fathers' world. But this separation also produces a melancholic reaction of sadness and sense of loss. Certain religious sensibilities develop out of this melancholic reaction, including a sense of honor, a sense of hope, and a sense of humor. Realizing that they cannot return to their original maternal environment, men, whether knowingly or not, embark on a lifelong search for a sense of being at home in the world. At Home in the World focuses on works of art as a means to explore the formation and continuing expression of men's melancholy selves and their religious sensibilities. These explorations include such topics as male viewers' mixed feelings toward the maternal figure, physical settings that offer alternatives to the maternal environment, and the maternal resonances of the world of nature. By presenting images of the natural world as the locus of peace and contentment, At Home in the World especially reflects of the religious sensibility of hope. Endorsement: "Blending art, historical, and gender sensibilities with psycho-biographic explorations, Capps invites his readers to be attentive to the subtle display of male loss and longings in iconic works of art. The joy of discovery is in no small manner a result of his eloquent writing style, which proceeds at a contemplative pace while imbued with the sharpness of psychoanalytic insight." --Bjorn Krondorfer, Endowed Professor of Religious Studies, Northern Arizona University "Bringing to bear his years of exploring the inner life and development of boys and men, Capps seeks to raise the reader's consciousness of one's melancholic self, how it quietly shapes religious sensibility, vocation, and cultural expression, and how one's resourceful self can constructively deal with a long-forgotten loss." --Ryan LaMothe, Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, St. Meinrad School of Theology "Capps, the homemaker, advocates genuine and hopeful action, homemaking, by means of searching for asymmetrical meanings of the melancholic self, in which joy, woe, humor, and terror are woven fine. While reading this aesthetic book, you will certainly feel 'at-homeness' in the uncanniness. I strongly commend it." --Sang Uk Lee, Associate Professor, Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary "With nimble reflections that draw on wide-ranging contributions from psychology, religion, and art, Capps helps men, and those who live and work with them, understand their longing to be 'at home in the world, ' and he encourages them to cultivate and embrace that longing with greater courage and even joy. A stunning work " --Allan Hugh Cole Jr., Academic Dean and Professor of Pastoral Care, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary "With in-depth knowledge, harmonizing originality, and uncanny clarity, Capps explores the shadows of life and the origins of male religious sensibility. Psychologists of religion, personality or psychoanalytic theorists, and art historians and cultural critics will find Capps a thought-provoking conversation partner. Reading At Home in the World is a personal event, an invitation to find hope." --Jaco J. Hamman, Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt University Author Biography: Donald Capps is William Harte Felmeth Professor of Pastoral Theology Emeritus and Adjunct Professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is the author of Striking Out: The Religious Journey of Teenage Boys (Cascade Books, 2011) and Understanding Psychosis (2010), and is coauthor with Nathan Carlin of Living in Limbo: Life in the Midst of Uncertainty (Cascade Books, 2010).

Are men more or less religious than women, and in what way? In Men and Their Religion, Donald Capps brings to life men's engagement with religion and provides insights into the rapid rise of men's religious organizations such as Promise Keepers. Capps says that men are just as religious as women, but in a different way. The religiousness of men is rooted in a deep sense of melancholy, a sense originating when they are small boys separating emotionally from their mothers. Fathers also play a part in the religious development of men. The Judaeo-Christian tradition, Capps argues, requires the sacrifice of father-son love because the Father God is a jealous God, allowing no rivals. So for boys, the hoped-for attachment to their fathers never happens. As a result of this loss, the religion of men takes three forms: the religion of honor, the religion of hope, and the religion of humor. Capps uses two case studies to show the ways in which men with religious melancholia may develop a compensating religion of honor on one hand and a religion of hope on the other. Finally, religious melancholy can be countered through humor, and Capps concludes that if men had their way there would be more humor in religion and humor would be recognized as religious. Donald Capps is Professor of Pastoral Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary. His books include Jesus: A Psychological Biography, Freud and Freudians on Religion, Men, Religion, and Melancholia, and Social Phobia: Alleviating Anxiety in an Age of Self-promotion. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.