Human Flourishing - by Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley (Hardcover)

About the Book

Based on the author's thesis (doctoral)--Edge Hill University, 2022.

Book Synopsis

In this first systematic reconstruction of the concept of human flourishing, Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley addresses the central problems with the treatment of the concept inpsychology, education, policy and science.Drawing on Wittgenstein and his followers, he develops a sophisticated methodology of conceptual analysis and makes the case for paying closer attention to complex human contexts, purposes and uses.

Adopting a conceptual approach, informed by fundamental insights adapted from Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, Mountbatten-O'Malley highlights the key features and connections in the conceptual landscape of human flourishing, such as humanness, agency, personal growth, happiness and meaning. He considers the extent to which any claim to knowledge is reliant on a putative human nature, what that nature is, and how we can better understand such notions.

Re-humanizing current research on the concept that is technicalized and detached from ordinary uses, this volume takes the 'human' in conceptions of human flourishing seriously.

Review Quotes

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

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

About the Author

Eri Mountbatten-O'Malley is Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at Bath Spa University, UK.