Happiness and Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Heathwood
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Philosophical Question

This Element provides an opinionated introduction to the debate in moral philosophy over identifying the basic elements of well-being and to the related debate over the nature of happiness. The question of the nature of happiness is simply the question of what happiness is (as opposed to what causes it or how to get it), and the central philosophical question about well-being is the question of what things are in themselves of ultimate benefit or harm to a person, or directly make them better or worse off.

The Price of Truth: Reciprocity, Giving, and Generosity in the Philosophy of René Descartes

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 147-170
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Rene Descartes ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Science ◽  
Homo Oeconomicus ◽  
Intellectual Activity ◽  
René Descartes ◽  
Economic Thinking ◽  
Selfish Interest

The article provides a comparison of the concept of homo œconomicus with the core theses of René Descartes’ moral philosophy. The first section draws on the work of the contemporary Western philosopher Anselm Jappe in which Descartes’ philosophy is held to be the cornerstone of the established view and current scientific definitions of homo œconomicus as the fundamental and indispensable agent of capitalistic relations. As opposed to this “common sense” position in the modern social sciences, the second section of the article builds upon Pierre Bourdieu’s Anthropologie économique (2017) to demystify the notion of homo œconomicus. The article then examines some aspects of modern philosophical anthropology that show odd traces of Descartes’ thinking and that are regularly applied in economic science as well as in the critique of economic thinking as such. These are the concepts of mutuality, giving, exchange and generosity, and they are regarded as central to the philosopher’s moral doctrine.The author concludes that the philosophical doctrine of generosity has very little in common with the bourgeois ideology of utility which implies an instrumental relationship between subjects: in Caretesian moral philosophy the Other is neither an object of influence nor a means to achieve someone’s personal goals nor a windowless monad. Generosity certainly has its economic aspects, but these do not include accumulating wealth in the bourgeois sense. It is more in the realm of the aristocratic practice of making dispensations. All throughout his life Decartes may be viewed as exhibiting a peculiar kind of nobility in which the desire to give, endow and sacrifice outweighs any selfish interest. The vigorous pursuit of well-being gives way to a quest for the leisure required to pursue intellectual activity, and care for oneself does not preclude attending to and loving the Other, whatever form it may take.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subramanian Rangan
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Market Power ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Paradigm ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Great Output

Our quest for prosperity has produced great output (i.e. performance) but not always great outcomes (i.e. progress). Despite mounting regulation when it comes to fairness, well-being, and the scope of our humanity, the modern economic system still leaves much to be desired. If practice is to evolve substantively and systematically, then we must help evolve an economic paradigm where mutuality is more systematically complemented by morality. The bases of this morality must rest, beyond the sympathetic sentiments envisaged by Adam Smith, on an expanded and intentional moral reasoning. Moral philosophy has a natural role in informing and influencing such a turn in our thinking, especially when education is the preferred vehicle of transformation. Indeed, rather than just regulate market power we must also better educate market power.

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Social Welfare Functions

2019 ◽  
pp. 397-422
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Adler
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Important Policy ◽  
The Social

This chapter describes and compares the two most important policy-analysis methodologies in economics: cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the social-welfare-function (SWF) framework. Both approaches are consequentialist and welfarist; both are typically combined with a preference-based view of well-being. Despite these similarities, the two methodologies differ in significant ways. CBA translates well-being impacts into monetary equivalents, and ranks outcomes according to the sum total of monetary equivalents. By contrast, the SWF framework relies upon an interpersonally comparable measure of well-being. Each possible outcome is mapped onto a list (vector) of these well-being numbers, one for each person in the population; the ranking of outcomes, then, is driven by some rule (the SWF) for ranking these well-being vectors. The utilitarian SWF and the prioritarian family of SWFs (each corresponding to well-developed positions in moral philosophy) are especially plausible. The case for using CBA rather than one of these SWFs is weak—or so the chapter argues.

Ethical Consequentialism

Philosophy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Mulgan
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Moral Evaluation ◽  
Classical Utilitarianism

Consequentialism ties moral evaluation to the value of consequences or outcomes. In contemporary moral philosophy, consequentialism is typically contrasted with deontology and virtue ethics. Different consequentialists offer different accounts of value, but all give a prominent place to the promotion of human well-being. Consequentialism can evaluate acts, rules, motives, or political institutions. This entry focuses on contemporary consequentialism, but also explores its roots in classical utilitarianism.

Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Adler ◽  
Marc Fleurbaey
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Interdisciplinary Treatment ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Multidimensional Approach ◽  
Policy Assessment ◽  
Level Indicator ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Psychology And Economics

What are the methodologies that we should employ for designing and evaluating governmental policy, in light of the profound effects that policies have on the level and distribution of individuals’ well-being? The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of this question—drawing from welfare economics, moral philosophy, and psychology. Part I covers policy-assessment methodologies, both established and emerging. Part II reviews philosophical conceptions of well-being, and the literature on “subjective well-being” in psychology and economics. The chapters in Part III focus specifically on well-being measurement, proposing or empirically illustrating various approaches to constructing a comprehensive individual-level indicator of well-being—or, alternatively, defending a “multidimensional” approach that eschews such a measure. Part IV reviews a variety of challenges for policy assessment. This introductory chapter describes the Handbook structure and the role that each chapter plays therein and highlights a number of key Handbook themes.

The Concept of Well-Being

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mozaffar Qizilbash
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Subject

The concept of well-being is central to the subject matter of moral philosophy as well as economics. According to some moral theorists (particularly utilitarians) morality is about the maximization of social well-being. According to others, notably John Rawls (1972) we ought to give particular priority to the worst off members in society. Both these and other moral positions, whatever the priority they attach to different members of society in arriving at moral judgements, require an account of well-being or advantage. The concern with well-being is thus of foundational importance in moral philosophy, even if well-being is not thought of as all that matters. Furthermore, those who want to distinguish ‘morality’ from ‘self-interest’ must furnish us with an account of human interests, so that we can distinguish the moral realm from that of self-interest or prudence. The concerns of moral philosophers, here, clearly overlap with those of economists. Economists (particularly in welfare and development economics) are much concerned with questions of how well people are doing, with their ‘standard of living’ or ‘quality of life’. However, there are very different ways of thinking about each of these ideas. Indeed, we need to discriminate between different views of the quality of life and to decide which is the most appropriate for the purposes of moral theory and the normative parts of economics.

Who They Were and Why They Wanted to Suppress Obscene Literature

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. Kemeny
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Antisocial Behaviors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Role ◽  
Role Of Religion

After examining who supported the Society for the Suppression of Vice, this chapter explores why so many social leaders and prominent liberal ministers, usually recognized as leading social and cultural progressive voices in their particular fields, wholeheartedly supported the censorship activities of the Watch and Ward Society. Four key sources shaped the anti-vice reformers’ rationale for the censorship of obscene literature: liberal Protestant theology, nineteenth-century moral philosophy, the Whig-Republican view of the public role of religion in society, and their Victorian view of literature. To the anti-vice activists, licentious literature fostered an animalism that hindered the gradual Christianization of society, ruined individuals moral character, encouraged other antisocial behaviors, and contradicted the basic canons of what constituted good literature. For these reasons, the moral reformers argued, voluntary organizations and the state had a moral obligation to suppress obscene works that threatened the well-being of society.

Aristotle's Ethics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aristotle Aristotle ◽  
Jonathan Barnes ◽  
Anthony Kenny ◽  
Jonathan Barnes ◽  
Anthony Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
Ethical Thought ◽  
English Edition ◽  
The Past ◽  
Aristotle's Ethics

Aristotle's moral philosophy is a pillar of Western ethical thought. It bequeathed to the world an emphasis on virtues and vices, happiness as well-being or a life well lived, and rationally motivated action as a mean between extremes. Its influence was felt well beyond antiquity into the Middle Ages, particularly through the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. In the past century, with the rise of virtue theory in moral philosophy, Aristotle's ethics has been revived as a source of insight and interest. While most attention has traditionally focused on Aristotle's famous Nicomachean Ethics, there are several other works written by or attributed to Aristotle that illuminate his ethics: the Eudemian Ethics, the Magna Moralia, and Virtues and Vices. This book brings together all four of these important texts, in thoroughly revised versions of the translations found in the authoritative complete works universally recognized as the standard English edition. Edited and introduced by two of the world's leading scholars of ancient philosophy, this is an essential volume for anyone interested in the ethical thought of one of the most important philosophers in the Western tradition.

scholarly journals Communication in Adopting Moral Norms

MANUSYA ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
Pavel Slutskiy
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Moral Norm ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Subjective Preference ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
Value Preferences ◽  
Universal Norm

There is a seemingly unbridgeable gap between descriptive statements of moral philosophy (ethics) and prescriptive statements of moral norms. The gap can be avoided by introducing a praxeological explanation of the utilitarian meaning of moral norms which treats them as manmade devices utilized for creating social circumstances that reflect universal subjective value preferences of members of society. The universally shared subjective preference not to be acted upon against ones consent is the reason for adopting a moral norm that prohibits such actions. Adoption of this norm is believed to result in things beneficial to human well-being. As soon as people realize that a norm is in accord with their subjective preferences, the norm becomes adopted by society and internalized by individuals via the communication that sustains it. Along with its internalization the universal norm can take a particular shape contained in background assumptions. The means utilized to ensure that a moral norm is obeyed is the creation of enforcement mechanisms that develop a system of punishments for violating the norm, which then gives way to the development of morally legitimate legal and political systems.

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