Happiness and the Good Life Campaign for a Fairer Society Friday 15 th April 2011 Jim Elder-Woodward Convenor Independe

1. Happiness and the Good Life Campaign for a Fairer Society Friday 15th April 2011 Jim Elder-Woodward Convenor Independent Living in Scotland Steering Group

2. Ken Dodd Happiness, happiness, The greatest gift that I possess.I thank the Lord I've been blessed With more than my share of happiness

3. Happiness and the Good Life Two competing philosophies Jeremy Bentham Aristotle (18thc AD) (4thc BC) Both refer to happiness, but in entirely different ways

4. Jeremy Bentham - Utilitarianism “Utility” means “Happiness” ‘the greatest good for the greatest number of people” “The quantity of pleasure being equal, pushpin (a child’s game) is as good as poetry”

5. Utilitarianism ‘Beggars’ and ‘cripples’ offended people’s sensitivities; and lessened their happiness, Put into segregated workhouses Their happiness secured through hard work and strict regimes

6. Workhouses 20/- per person brought to workhouses where they laboured for their keep Kept ”…. poorer than the poorest peasant in the field” Good for the inmate – made them productive members of the community

7. Welfare Reform Bill Similar thinking in today’s Welfare Reform Bill Private medical firm re-assessing disabled people as being fit for work Making them more poor and miserable

8. Citizenship Being ‘valued’ is also part of Aristotle’s philosophy But Aristotle’s “value” and “happiness” isn’t measured in terms of wealth: it’s about citizenship; it’s about living the good life

9. Exercising Citizenship Personal capacities of virtue and honour, of leading the good life - the fullness of human potential - can only be developed by the exercise of citizenship – like cycling, it can only be practiced by doing

10. The Good of the Community Emphasis wasn’t individual freedom; but the good of the community One’s purpose in life was to be part of the government of that community Meaning of the word ‘idiot’ in Greek was, “the private person, the outsider of the community”

11. Aristotle Quote: “A man who is isolated, who is unable to share in the benefits of (citizenship), or has no need to share, because he’s already self-sufficient, such a person must be either a beast or a god.”

12. Aristotle vs Bentham Aristotle: virtues and honours of citizenship Bentham: sensory pleasure and wealth of the majority This disparity can also be seen between the present welfare system And independent living as devised by disabled people

13. Independent Living “….. disabled people having the same freedom, choice, dignity and control as other citizens at home, at work, and in the community. It does not mean living by yourself or fending for yourself. It means rights to practical assistance and support toparticipate in society and live an ordinary life”.

14. 14 Rights to Independent Living Accessible environment Accessible transport Technical aids and equipment Accessible housing Personal assistance Inclusive education An income Employment Accessible information Advocacy Counselling Inclusive healthcare Communication Civic Participation

15. Emancipatory Services • Self-assessment • Self-management • Participation • Citizenship Prof Mike Oliver

16. Scottish Government’s Core Reference Group on Independent Living • Shared Vision • Shared Approach • Shared Workplan “… to mainstream independent living within the general social and economic policy of Scotland”

17. Independent Living in Scotland Project – Steering Group • Funded by the Scottish Government • Housed within the EHRC • It’s a shared resource for the whole Movement in Scotland • Developing the Movement and supporting those disabled people on the Core Reference Group

18. ILiS Publications A few of our publications are at the back of the hall Please help yourself to them before you go

19. Conclusion:Bentham’s Utilitarianism Maintaining Poverty Segregation Sterilisation Extermination

20. Conclusion: Aristotle’s Citizenship Inclusion Development of one’s full potential Virtues and honour Development of society as a whole The Good Life

21. Conclusion:Individual Human Rights Our challenge: • To graft our human rights onto welfare state • To use UN Conventions to argue for those rights

22. Conclusion: Prof. Michael Sandel, Harvard University Democracy always favours utilitarianism, because utilitarianism pampers the majority “A better way of attaining democratic mutual respect of each other’s moral positions is to attend to them, to engage with them, to challenge them; sometimes listening and learning from them”

23. Conclusion: Achieving Happiness & the Good Life In this way, a society can become fair It can respect the equality of all of its citizens It can find ways to enable everyone, including disabled people, to achieve their own happiness and live their own good life

24. Conclusion: Ken Dodd And, in so doing, we can learn to “…forgive and forget Turn our tears of regret Once more to tears of happiness.” www.ilis.co.uk