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  Happiness – Concept, Measurement and Promotion

  Yew Kwang NG

  While interests in issues pertaining to happiness have been long-standing, we have witnessed recently an increasing focus by both scholars and members of the general public. ‘Subjective well-being (SWB) is an extremely active area of research with about 170,000 articles and books published on the topic in the past 15 years’ (Diener et al. 2018, Abstract). Not only psychologists (e.g. Kahneman et al. 1999, Diener et al. 2010, 2018) and sociologists (e.g. Veenhoven 1984, 1993, 2010, 2017), but also economists have made substantial investigations.1 After about 2–3 decades of gestation since the first publication on happiness issues by an economist (Easterlin 1974), contributions from economists has mushroomed over the last two decades or so.2 I published a paper (Ng 1978) four years after Easterlin and continue to maintain interest until now. In this book, I hope to show how an individual and a society/country may increase happiness. Despite the fact that happiness has a genetic element (Lykken & Tellegen 1996, Lyubomirsky & Layous 2013, Minkov & Bond 2017), it can be increased (Lyubomirsky 2005, Carrillo et al. 2020);3 one may even learn or be trained to be happier (e.g. Loveday et al. 2018, Rowland & Curry 2018, Ruch et al. 2018, Liu et al. 2020). At least for myself, my happiness has increased by many times since its low (but still positive) during my early thirties. I hope that many readers may learn from this book to achieve the same or even larger successes. My advice is not just based on my personal experience, but also on the research findings of many researchers from whom I have learned enormously. I believe that this book is useful not only for an individual wishing to increase happiness, or for a government willing to do good for the people, but also for a happiness researcher and an economist if she wants her economics to contribute to social welfare. (On the other hand, the concern for the danger of a paternalistic government should also be kept in mind; see, e.g. Frey 2018).

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  Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change

  Kathrin Herrmann (ed.) and Kimberley Jayne (ed.)

  Animal experimentation has been one of the most controversial areas of animal use, mainly due to the intentional harms inflicted upon animals for the sake of hoped-for benefits in humans. Despite this rationale for continued animal experimentation, shortcomings of this practice have become increasingly more apparent and well-documented. However, these limitations are not yet widely known or appreciated, and there is a danger that they may simply be ignored. The 51 experts who have contributed to Animal Experimentation: Working Towards a Paradigm Change critically review current animal use in science, present new and innovative non-animal approaches to address urgent scientific questions, and offer a roadmap towards an animal-free world of science.

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  Mangy Curs and Stoned Horses: Animal Control in the District of Columbia from the Beginnings to About 1940

  Hayden M. Wetzel

  Mangy Curs describes: the efforts of the DC government to corral stray animals (farm animals and pets) from streets and parks (police and the pound service); issues of cruelty to animals in public places (Humane Society); sheltering strays, mostly dogs and cats (Animal Rescue League, others); and collection of dead animals from the streets (contractors, city crew). It is the only study on this subject ever written.

  The text runs about 260 pages (with illustrations) and a further 100 pages of appendixes (complete list of DC laws/regulations/ court decisions regarding animals, 40 pages of statistics, plus anecdotes and miscellaneous side topics such as pet stores, letters to the police about animals, protecting animals during wartime raids). The text is laden with amusing anecdotes (taking up Pres. Grant’s cow, furious mobs of hog owners attacking the pound wagon) and contemporary observations (“A dog is as dirty as a boy”).

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  Animal Welfare in the Asia-Pacific Region

  Erich Yahner

  An annotated bibliography of relevant materials published between 1997 and 2019.

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  Attitudes Toward Animal Research and Experimentation

  Erich Yahner

  An annotated bibliography of relevant materials published between 1981 and 2019.

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  Humane Education

  Erich Yahner

  An annotated bibliography of relevant materials published between 1991 and 2019.

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  Prison Dog-Training Programs

  Erich Yahner

  An annotated bibliography of relevant materials published between 1987 and 2019.

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  Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief

  Kristin Andrews, Gary L. Comstock, G.K.D. Crozier, Sue Donaldson, Andrew Fenton, Tyler M. John, Cassie Meré Johnson, L. Syd M. Johnson, Robert C. Jones, Will Kymlicka, Letitia Meynell, Nathan Nobis, and David Peña-Guzman

  In Chimpanzee Rights: The Philosophers’ Brief, a group of renowned philosophers considers these questions. Carefully and clearly, they examine the four lines of reasoning the courts have used to deny chimpanzee personhood: species, contract, community, and capacities. None of these, they argue, merits disqualifying chimpanzees from personhood. The authors conclude that when judges face the choice between seeing Kiko and Tommy as things and seeing them as persons—the only options under current law—they should conclude that Kiko and Tommy are persons who should therefore be protected from unlawful confinement "in keeping with the best philosophical standards of rational judgment and ethical standards of justice."

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  Prodigal Pets: A History of Animal Sheltering in America and the Origin of the No Kill Movement

  Susan K. Houser

  In 224 pages, this book traces the history of animal sheltering in the United States of America and its gradual transition from 1990 onwards into support for the "no-kill" goal in which less than 10% of animals entering shelters are euthanized. The includes extensive reporting identifying trends in animal shelter intakes and outcomes. All sources are carefully cited.

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  People -- Marine Mammal Interactions

  Andrew Butterworth and Mark P. Simmonds

  Our relationships with marine mammals are complex. We have used them as resources, and in some places this remains the case; viewed them as competitors and culled them (again ongoing in some localities); been so captivated and intrigued by them that we have taken them into captivity for our entertainment; and developed a lucrative eco-tourism activity focused on them in many nations. When we first envisaged this special topic, we had two overarching aims:

  Firstly, we hoped to generate critical evaluation of some of our relationships with these animals.

  Secondly, we hoped to attract knowledgeable commentators and experts who might not traditionally publish in the peer-reviewed literature.

  We were also asking ourselves a question about what responsibility mankind might have to marine mammals, on our rapidly changing planet?

  The answer to the question; can, or should, humans have responsibility for the lives of marine mammals when they are affected by our activities? - is, in our opinion, ‘yes’ – and the logical progression from this question is to direct research and effort to understand and optimise the actions, reactions and responses that mankind may be able to take.

  We hope that the papers in this special issue bring some illumination to a small selection of topics under this much wider topic area, and prove to be informative and stimulating.

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  Animals & Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights

  Nathan Nobis

  This book provides an overview of the current debates about the nature and extent of our moral obligations to animals. Which, if any, uses of animals are morally wrong, which are morally permissible (i.e., not wrong) and why? What, if any, moral obligations do we, individually and as a society (and a global community), have towards animals and why? How should animals be treated? Why? We will explore the most influential and most developed answers to these questions – given by philosophers, scientists, and animal advocates and their critics – to try to determine which positions are supported by the best moral reasons.

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  In-Service Teachers’ Understanding and Teaching of Humane Education Before and After a Standards-Based Intervention

  Stephanie Itle-Clark

  The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which credentialed educators conceptualized, understood, and perceived humane education, as well as their intent to include humane education in personal practice and their knowledge of strategies for integrating humane education concepts into their classroom work. The group of 25 educators participated in an online eight-week professional development course and completed pre- and post-surveys. The participants consisted of educators from the United States, British Columbia, and Vietnam. Participants were 11 secondary educators, 10 primary educators, 2 substitute teachers, 1 administrator, and 1 librarian. Results indicate that after an eight-week professional development intervention, participants had a greater understanding of humane education and an increased intent to include humane concepts in their practice, as well as increased knowledge of strategies for integrating humane concepts into their personal work. Results show that while the educators did not have an understanding of humane education at the beginning of the study, the humane themes resonated with their desire to engage students and to teach prosocial behaviors. A recommendation is for educators to receive humane education professional development that aligns with reform models and standards-based education in order to increase their knowledge of strategies and to infuse humane education into traditional pedagogy.