Human Flourishing

""This book is original, insightful, and provocative. It utilizes key insights from Wittgenstein and ordinary language philosophy to rigorously analyse the widely used but contested concept of flourishing. Its conclusions cannot be ignored."" --Xavier Symons, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Human Flourishing Program in the Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, USA ""Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley has seized upon Wittgenstein's ideas and methods and used them to shed much needed light on the notion of human flourishing as deployed in education, psychology and political debate. His criticisms of essentialism, subjectivism, reductionism and scientism are powerful and persuasive. His advocacy of civilised humanism in the face of its numerous adversaries is laudable."" --P.M.S. Hacker, Emeritus Research Fellow, St John's College, University of Oxford, UK ""Human flourishing is one of the most important intellectual concepts of our time. Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley has taken a deep dive into philosophical waters. Readers expecting a simple answer will not find it here, instead we are challenged to think again about the nature of human flourishing. Educators, psychologists, and policy makers, anyone interested in human flourishing, are invited to explore its philosophical foundations. This book is a welcome addition to my library and practice."" --Stephen Joseph, Professor in the School of Education, University of Nottingham, and author of Think Like A Therapist (2022), UK ""Drawing inspiration from Wittgenstein, Mountbatten-O'Malley unravels a myriad of confusions in the current literature on human flourishing with commendable precision. He provides a clear and illuminating map for readers to navigate this often perplexing terrain, offering a fresh perspective on the vital interplay between personal and social responsibility in the pursuit of human flourishing. The book successfully bridges the gap between theory and practice and is a must-read for anyone seeking to explore and enrich their understanding of what it takes to flourish."" --Constantine Sandis, Director of Lex Academic and Visiting Professor of Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire, UK