Summary
Daniel Cohen: Homo economicus
The misguided prophet of new times
The author of this interesting study starts from the thesis that the history of the world can be seen as a long movement of humanity towards happiness, with many obstacles and with an uncertain outcome. Investigating the reasons for the rise of dissatisfaction in an era of undoubtedly the greatest material wealth and unimagined possibilities, Cohen provides a historical overview of the meaning of pleasure and pain, moving from ancient civilizations to modern times.
Today, when the Darwinian patterns of incessant and merciless struggle rule, and satisfaction is achieved exclusively by appropriating material goods, happiness is always unattainable. Daniel Cohen claims that this state does not have to be a source of eternal frustration but, on the contrary, a point of support for a different organization of private life and social processes, and the key to both lies in man's understanding of satisfaction and happiness.
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