Abstract

In this book Happy‐People‐Pills For All, the author argues for a future where there is a cheap and readily available supply of happiness‐boosting pills for everyone. Knowing all too well that many readers will be skeptical, the author hopes to show in this introductory chapter that the idea is at least worthy of consideration. The happy‐people‐pills for all project has both a means and an end. The means is to use pharmacology; the end is to increase our happiness. The idea of taking pills to increase happiness is one that we are familiar with: it is a common practice of health care practitioners to prescribe various mood‐altering pharmacological agents. The happy‐people‐pills‐for‐all project depends critically on a scientific insight: happiness is rooted in our neurophysiology and neurochemistry, and to a large degree, in our genes. Our distinction between happy‐people‐pills conservatives and happy‐people‐pills progressives is made in terms of a therapy/enhancement distinction.