The Role of the Intellect in Individual and Social Flourishi

The main theme throughout this book is the role of the intellect in the happiness of an individual and, by analogy, the vital role the university plays in a healthy society. Throughout Stoner's life, his only constant, stable source of happiness is his intellectual life. He is a shy person and has few friends (before he dies he considers that he really has only ever had two friends in his entire life), his marriage is unhappy from the start, his daughter is taken away by his scheming wife, and the only woman he ever really loved, Katherine Driscoll, is forced to leave Columbia when Lomax threatens to ruin both of them. Yet, despite all of this, and a few dark periods in his life, Stoner is a happy man, and he draws this happiness from studying literature and teaching...