dc.contributor.author | Jackson, Mark | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2013-05-20T10:58:56Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2012-12 | |
dc.description.abstract | In 1956, Hans Selye tentatively suggested that the scientific study of stress could ‘help us
to formulate a precise program of conduct’ and ‘teach us the wisdom to live a rich and
meaningful life’. Nearly two decades later, Selye expanded this limited vision of social
order into a full-blown philosophy of life. In Stress without Distress, first published in 1974,
he proposed an ethical code of conduct designed to mitigate personal and social
problems. Basing his arguments on contemporary understandings of the biological
processes involved in stress reactions, Selye referred to this code as ‘altruistic egotism’.
This article explores the origins and evolution of Selye’s ‘natural philosophy of life’,
analysing the links between his theories and adjacent intellectual developments in
biology, psychosomatic and psychosocial medicine, cybernetics and socio-biology, and
situating his work in the broader cultural framework of modern western societies. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Wellcome Trust | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | 25(5), pp. 13-29 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1177/0952695112468526 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/9524 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Sage | en_GB |
dc.relation.url | http://hhs.sagepub.com/content/25/5/13 | en_GB |
dc.subject | altruistic egotism | en_GB |
dc.subject | organic analogy | en_GB |
dc.subject | psychosomatic medicine | en_GB |
dc.subject | Hans Selye | en_GB |
dc.subject | socio-biology | en_GB |
dc.subject | stress | en_GB |
dc.title | The pursuit of happiness: the social and scientific origins of Hans Selye’s natural philosophy of life | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2013-05-20T10:58:56Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 0952-6951 | |
dc.description | © The Author(s) 2012. Open access article. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | History of the Human Sciences | en_GB |