Martin Elias Pete Seligman

Martin Elias Pete Seligman (born August 12, 1942) is an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books. Seligman is a strong promoter within the scientific community of his theories of positive psychologyand of well-being. His theory of learned helplessness is popular among scientific and clinical psychologists. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Seligman as the 31st most cited psychologist of the 20th century.

Main contributions：
①"Enhanced interrogation" controversy
James Elmer Mitchell was involved in the development of torture techniques for the U.S. government, so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques". Mitchell attended a meeting at Seligman's home regarding the September 11 attacks and the psychology of capitulation in December 2001. Mitchell also attended a three-hour talk from Seligman sponsored by the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA) on learned helplessness and torture resistance at Naval Base San Diego in May 2002. The Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture stated that the enhanced interrogation techniques were based on the theory of learned helplessness. Seligman has stated that his involvement does not extend beyond those two events, he does not support torture and is grieved and horrified that good science may have been used for such a bad and dubious purpose as torture.

②Happiness
In his 2002 book Authentic Happiness, Seligman saw happiness as made up of positive emotion, engagement and meaning.

Selected works by Martin Elias Pete Seligman:
— (1975). Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-0752-3. (Paperback reprint edition, W.H. Freeman, 1992, ISBN 0-7167-2328-X)
— (1991). Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. New York: Knopf. ISBN 978-0-671-01911-2. (Paperback reprint edition, Penguin Books, 1998; reissue edition, Free Press, 1998)
— (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-2297-6. (Paperback edition, Free Press, 2004, ISBN 0-7432-2298-9)
— (Spring 2004). "Can Happiness be Taught?". Daedalus. 133 (2): 80–87. doi:10.1162/001152604323049424.
Peterson, Christopher; Seligman, Martin E.P. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195167016.
— (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. New York: Free Press. ISBN 978-1-4391-9075-3.

Reference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Elias_Pete_Seligman