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Well-being

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(Redirected from Prudential value) General term for condition of individual or group For the TV channel, see Wellbeing (TV channel).

Children appearing to experience / exhibit well-being after an art class

Well-being or welfare is what is ultimately good for a person, including everything considered valuable for them. It is a measure of how well a person's life is going for them, both in a positive and a negative sense. In its positive sense, well-being is sometimes contrasted with ill-being as its opposite. The term "subjective well-being" denotes how people experience and evaluate their lives, usually measured in relation to self-reported well-being obtained through questionnaires.

Definition

Well-being is what is ultimately good for a person or in their self-interest. It is a measure of how well a person's life is going for them. In the broadest sense, the term covers the whole spektrum of quality of life as the balance of all positive and negative things in a person's life. More narrowly, well-being refers specifically to positive degrees, while ill-being denotes negative degrees. The precise definition of well-being is disputed and varies across disciplines and cultures. Some characterizations focus on a single element, like happiness, while others include multiple components, such as good physical and mental health, positive emotions, an engaged and flourishing lifestyle, inner harmony, and positive interpersonal relationships. Some definitions also include material conditions, such as income, safety, and low pollution. Individual factors contributing to overall well-being are either benefits, if they increase it, or harms, if they decrease it.

As a person-specific value, well-being contrasts with impersonal value or value simpliciter. A thing has impersonal value if it is good for the world at large by making it a better place, without being restricted to one specific person. Well-being, by contrast, is what is good for or relative to someone. While personal and impersonal value often align, they can diverge, for example, if an individual seeks a personal gain that is bad from a wider perspective. The exact relation between these two types of value is disputed. According to one proposal, impersonal value is the sum of all personal values.

Well-being is typically understood as an intrinsic or final value, meaning that it is good in itself, independent of external factors. Things with instrumental value, by contrast, are only good as means leading to other good things, like the value of money. Well-being is further distinguished from moral, religious, and aesthetic values. For instance, donating money to a charity may be morally good, even if it does not increase the donor's well-being.

The terms quality of life, good life, welfare, prudential value, personal good, and individual utility are often used interchangably with well-being. Similarly, the words pleasure and happiness are employed in overlapping ways with well-being, although their precise meanings differ in technical contexts like philosophy and psychology. Pleasure and its opposite, pain, are experiences about what is attractive and aversive. They are sometimes limited to bodily sensations, but in their widest sense, they encompass any experience that feels good or bad. One perspective characterizes happiness as the balance of pleasure over pain. A different view understands happiness as a positive attitude a person has towards their life as a whole, termed life satisfaction. Pleasure, pain, and happiness are central to the subjective side of well-being, and some philosophers assert that they are the only components of well-being.

Well-being is a crucial goal of many human endeavors, both on individual and societal levels. Various attitudes and emotions are directed at well-being, like caring for someone or experiencing pity, envy, and ill will. Well-being is the state that egoists seek for themselves and altruists aim to increase for others. Many disciplines examine or are guided by considerations of well-being, including ethics, psychology, sociology, economics, education, public policy, law, and medicine.

The word well-being comes from the Italian term benessere. It entered the English language in the 16th century.

Overview

Different forms of well-being, such as mental, physical, economic, or emotional are often closely interlinked. For example, improved physical well-being (e.g., by reducing or ceasing an addiction) is associated with improved emotional well-being. And better economic well-being (e.g., possessing more wealth) tends to be associated with better emotional well-being even in adverse situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Well-being plays a central role in ethics since what a person ought to do depends, at least to some degree, on what would make someone's life get better or worse. According to welfarism, there are no other values besides well-being.

Theories of well-being try to determine what is essential to all forms of well-being. Hedonistic theories equate well-being with the balance of pleasure over pain. Desire theories hold that well-being consists in desire-satisfaction: the higher the number of satisfied desires, the higher the well-being. Objective list theories state that a person's well-being depends on a list of factors that may include both subjective and objective elements.

Well-being is also scientifically dependent on endogenous molecules that impact feelings of happiness such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, oxytocin, cortisol and more "Well-being related markers" or "Well-being bio markers" play an important role in the regulation of an organism's metabolism, and when not working in proper order can lead to malfunction.

Well-being is the central subject of positive psychology, which aims to discover the factors that contribute to human well-being. Martin Seligman, for example, suggests that these factors consist in having positive emotions, being engaged in an activity, having good relationships with other people, finding meaning in one's life and a sense of accomplishment in the pursuit of one's goals.

Types

Types of well-being can be categorized by how they are measured, who they belong to, and which domain of life they affect. Some researchers limit their inquiry to one specific type while others investigate the interrelations between different types.

Subjective and objective well-being

Subjective well-being is the measure of how people feel about and evaluate their own lives. It encompasses both affective and cognitive components. A person has high affective well-being if they have many pleasant experiences and few unpleasant ones. High cognitive well-being occurs when a person evaluate their life positively, making a global assessment that things are going well.

Subjective well-being is measured using questionnaires in which individuals report the quality of their experiences. Single-item measures provide the most simple approach, focusing on a single scale, like asking participants to rate how content they are with their lives on a scale from 1 to 10. Multi-item scales include questions for distinct aspects of subjective well-being, with the advantage of reducing the influence of the wording of any single question. They have separate questions for domains such as the presence of positive affects, the absence of negative affects, and overall life satisfaction, which they combine into a comprehensive index.

Objective well-being encompasses objective factors that a person's life is going well. Unlike subjective well-being, these factors can be assessed and quantified from an external perspective. They include personal, social, economic, and environmental aspects such as health, education, income, housing, leisure, and security.

By relying on objective data, measures of objective well-being are less affected by cultural and personal biases influencing self-reports. However, it is not universally accepted that objective well-being is a form of well-being in the strictest sense. This doubt is based on the idea that well-being is essentially a subjective phenomenon tied to a person's experience. According to this view, objective factors influence and indicate well-being but are not themselves forms of well-being.

Some researchers focus only on subjective or objective well-being. Others combine both perspectives in their inquiry, including questions about how the two are related. It is possible for subjective and objective well-being to diverge. For example, a person may feel subjectively happy despite scoring low on objective measures, like low income and frail health.

Individual and community well-being

Individual well-being concerns the quality of life of a particular person and is the main focus of disciplines like psychology and philosophy. Community well-being applies the concept of well-being to the state of a group of people. It encompasses a broad range of economic, social, environmental, and cultural aspects that influence how the community functions and thrives while ensuring that the community's needs are fulfilled.

One view sees community well-being as the sum of individual well-beings while others emphasize that the relation between the two is more complex. Individual and community well-being often support each other. For instance, high subjective well-being can lead a person to contribute more to their community, and a well-functioning community can make its members happy. However, there can also be tensions, like when changes necessary for community well-being conflict with the individual well-being of certain members.

Closely related to community well-being are categories of well-being defined for specific demographic groups. For instance, child well-being emphasizes health, education, material security, and social development in a loving and nurturing environment. Other examples include women’s, elderly, student, and employee well-being.

Others

Various types of well-being are categorized based on the domain of life to which they belong. Physical well-being concerns the domain of the body as the capacity to engage in physical activities and the absence of illness and bodily pain. It includes general health considerations and the ability to perform one's social role without being hindered by physical limitations.

Psychological well-being, also called mental health, is a state of mind characterized by internal balance. It involves the absence of disorders and disturbances, together with the abilities to cope with challenging situations, maintain positive relationships, and cultivate personal growth. It is closely linked to intellectual, spiritual, and emotional well-being. Intellectual well-being encompasses well-functioning cognitive abilities and traits, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and curiosity. Spiritual well-being is a state in which people find purpose in life and have inner peace, self-confidence, and a sense of identity. Emotional well-being involves the capacities to comprehend, articulate, and regulate emotions, together with an overall positive mood.

Hedonic well-being refers to a life rich in pleasurable experiences and devoid of suffering. Eudamonic well-being is a form of personal fulfillment in which an individual flourishes by striving for excellence and actualizing their innate potentials.

Social well-being concerns the quality and number of interpersonal connections, including how well a person functions in their social environment and the level of social support available to them. Economic well-being refers to the economic situation of a person, such as the resources and skills they have in regard to income, job opportunities, and financial stability. Further types of well-being include financial, cultural, political, and environmental well-being.

Theories of well-being

Theories of well-being aim to identify the essential features or components of well-being. They focus on the nature of well-being itself rather than its external causes or conventional indicators used to measure it. For example, money and medicine can contribute to well-being as external causes but are not themselves forms of well-being. A traditionally influential approach categorizes theories of well-being into hedonism, desire theories, and objective list theories. This classification does not cover all theories, and the different categories are not always mutually exclusive. In some cases, distinct theories recommend different lifestyles, while in others, they advocate for the same lifestyle but provide different reasons for why it is good.

Hedonism

Hedonism about well-being, also called prudential hedonism, holds that pleasure and pain are the only factors of well-being. It states that how well a life goes for a person depends entirely on how it feels to live this life, expressed as the balance of pleasure over pain. One view sees pleasure and pain as bodily sensations, like the pleasure of eating delicious food and the pain of injuring a leg. However, hedonists generally take a wider perspective, characterizing pleasure and pain broadly as any experience that feels good or bad. This broader understanding includes the intellectual pleasure of reading an engaging book and the sorrow of losing a loved one. According to a common view, the value of each episode of pleasure and pain depends only on its intensity and duration. An alternative perspective also considers non-quantitative factors, such as the distinct quality of an experience.

One criticism of hedonism acknowledges that some pleasures have value but rejects that this is the case for all pleasures. According to this view, certain pleasures have no value and may even be bad for a person, such as sadistic pleasures from torturing animals. Another objection questions whether pleasure is the only thing of value for individuals, citing things like virtue, achievement, friendship, and the satisfaction of desires as distinct sources. An influential counterexample to hedonism, proposed by Robert Nozick, imagines an experience machine that simulates a life filled with pleasures, which would be ideal from the perspective of hedonism. Pointing out that life in this virtual simulation lacks authenticity, Nozick argues that mere pleasure by itself is not the only source of value.

Desire theories

According to desire theories, the satisfaction of desires is the only source of well-being. This means that individuals have well-being when they get what they want. Desires are subjective attitudes directed at things or states, like the desires to eat potato chips or become famous. Desires present conditions that are either fulfilled or frustrated depending on whether the desired state of affairs is actualized. Desire theories have some overlap with hedonism because people desire pleasure and the satisfaction of desires is typically pleasurable. However, people want various other goods besides pleasure, and desire theorists emphasize the diversity of desires and the individual differences from one person to another. For instance, some people prioritize family and health, while others primarily seek career success, wealth, knowledge, or spiritual enlightenment. As a result, the concrete path to well-being can vary greatly from person to person based on their subjective preferences.

Critics of desire theories point out that people sometimes desire things that are bad for them. For example, a child's desire to eat nothing but candy could lead to serious health problems and diminish well-being rather than increase it. In response, some modified versions of desire theories have been proposed to avoid this counterexample. They argue that only the satisfaction of well-informed desires contributes to well-being, excluding desires in which individuals do not fully consider or understand the negative consequences. Another objection holds that desire satisfaction is only good in a derivative sense. It asserts that a person desires something because they believe that it is good, meaning that the value primarily resides in the desired object rather than in the satisfaction of the desire.

Objective list theories

Objective list theories state that a person's well-being depends on several different factors. These factors can include subjective components, like pleasure and desire-satisfaction, but also encompass objective factors that enhance a person's well-being independent of whether they subjectively care about them. Objective list theorists have proposed diverse lists of items to cover a wide variety of elements contributing to well-being, such as health, friendship, achievement, knowledge, and autonomy. Some versions argue that each element on the list is valuable by itself, while others hold that they complement each other and only promote well-being when combined.

One criticism of objective list theories asserts that they define an incoherent concept of well-being by including diverse elements that have little in common. Another objection challenges the proposed objectivity of objective list theories, arguing that well-being is essentially a subjective phenomenon. According to this view, what is good for a person depends on their subjective attitude, and imposing an external definition of what is good leads to alienation.

Others

One categorization distinguishes between subjectivist, objectivist, and hybrid theories. Subjectivist theories understand well-being as a purely subjective phenomenon characterized by the individual's own perspective, mental states, and attitudes. Objectivist theories rely only on objective factors in their definition, like health and achievement. Hybrid theories incorporate both subjective and objective components. For example, one version states that well-being consists in the subjective appreciation of objective goods.

A further distinction is between monist and pluralist theories. Monist theories hold that a single good is responsible for well-being, meaning that all types of well-being share the same essential features. Pluralist theories see well-being as a diverse phenomenon that manifests in many forms without a single essence characteristic of all of them. For instance, objective list theories are pluralist views, whereas hedonism and desire theories are monist views.

Perfectionism identifies well-being with excellence by fulfilling human nature. Perfectionists discern key human abilities, such as rationality, knowledge, health, and dignity, holding that mastering and exercising them results in a life well lived. As an objectivist perspective, perfectionism asserts that the value of these goods does not depend on what the person thinks about them. Eudaimonism is a closely related view, asserting that a person has high well-being or flourishes in life by actualizing their inborn potentials. This view emphasizes that well-being is not a passive state but an active process. It manifests in an engaged lifestyle where individuals exercise virtues and rely on practical rationality to guide their decision-making.

Value fulfillment theories see the fulfillment of evaluative attitudes as the basis of well-being. They are similar to desire theories but are not limited to desires and include other evaluative attitudes such as beliefs, feelings, and judgments about what is good.

Most theories assume that the definition of well-being applies equally to everyone. Variabilism rejects this assumption and argues that different conceptions of well-being apply to different individuals. For example, one form of variabilism asserts that the nature of well-being in children differs from that in adults. Similarly, some theories of well-being are species-relative, proposing that the essential features of well-being vary across distinct species.

Components and contributing factors

Main article: Well-being contributing factors

To avoid the deep disagreements surrounding the essential features of well-being, some researchers examine components and contributing factors independent of whether they are integral parts or external causes. For example, there is wide agreement that positive emotions, achievements, interpersonal relationships, and health typically contribute to well-being in some form, despite academic disagreements about their precise roles.

Feelings, emotions, and life satisfaction

Positive and negative feelings of pleasure and pain are basic experiences of what is attractive and aversive. Pleasures promote well-being while pains diminish it. Additionally, they also influence how individuals perceive their lives and interact with their social and physical environments. Pleasure and pain are commonly seen as symmetric phenomena that counterbalance each other. According to this view, the disvalue of an episode of intense pain can be annulled by the value of an episode of intense pleasure. A different perspective argues that their relation is more complex, asserting that pleasure and pain influence experience, motivation, and well-being in distinct ways. As a result, some theorists hold that avoiding pain is more important than seeking pleasure.

Emotions include subjective experiences of pleasure and pain but are more complex psychological phenomena that encompass various additional aspects. They are temporary states of arousal and include an evaluative assessment of a situation and a disposition to engage in certain types of behavior. For example, fear evaluates a situation as dangerous and is associated with a behavioral disposition to flee. Additionally, emotions are associated with physiological changes, like sweating, and bodily expressions that signal the emotional state to others. High well-being is associated with frequent positive emotions and infrequent negative ones. Moods are a closely related factor of well-being. They typically last longer than emotions and have a less specific origin and evaluative assessment.

Life satisfaction is the subjective judgment of a person about how well their life is going. As an evaluation of a person's life as a whole, it is not limited to one particular area, like employment or financial status. Even though life satisfaction is influenced by the feelings and emotions a person currently has, it is not limited to them and encompasses a broader perspective. For example, a person may be overall satisfied with their life even if they are experiencing intense stomach pain at the moment. Individuals vary in how they arrive at their judgment of life satisfaction. For instance, some rely on instinctive gut feelings while others engage in deliberate and systematic reflections. Sometimes, individuals make inaccurate assessments and deceive themselves about their true quality of life, like cases of false happiness.

Achievements and meaning

Achievements or accomplishments refer to various types of success in life. They usually involve sustained effort in which an individual sets a goal they consider valuable and strives to actualize it. Achievements take many forms such as earning an educational degree, attaining athletic success, contributing to scientific research, writing a well-received novel, starting a successful company, and bringing up a happy family. The contribution of achievements to well-being depends not only on their quantity but also on their significance. For example, a difficult achievement that helps many people, like finding a cure for cancer, may contribute more to the achiever's well-being than a trivial and pointless achievement, like determining the exact number of crumbs in a cookie jar. High achievement typically has a positive influence on other factors of well-being. For example, it can help a person make more friends and improve their standard of living. In some cases, however, it can have negative side effects, like when an obsession with success increases anxiety and alienates loved ones.

Finding purpose or meaning in life is a closely related factor of well-being. It involves a judgment about the role and value of one's life in a wider context, but its precise characterization is disputed. Subjectivists argue that meaning is a subjective phenomenon. They suggest that people actively create it and make their lives meaningful by dedicating themselves to what they love. Objectivists contend that meaning is an objective phenomenon achieved by engaging with concrete values, like truth, moral goodness, and beauty. Some objectivists seek meaning in religious practice, arguing that a supernatural purpose is the source of meaning for individuals who work towards its realization. Other suggested sources of meaning include altruism, creativity, and self-actualization. The inability to find meaning in life can lead to an existential crisis, associated with anxiety and spiritual confusion.

Friendship and other relationships

Positive social connections and interactions are further key elements of well-being. In addition to the intrinsic joy of engaging with others, social networks can offer material and emotional assistance during challenging times. They also help people build trust, share values, promote the exchange of information, and provide access to new opportunities. There are various types of social relationships that may influence well-being in different ways, including friends, family members, romantic partners, co-workers, and teammates.

Researchers often focus specifically on friendship, understood as a voluntary social relationship between people characterized by mutual concern, trust, and support. Friends tend to spend time with each other, enjoy each other's company, and know personal facts about one another. A central aspect of a friendship is its strength, distinguishing close friends from distant ones. Strength is determined by factors such as time spent together, trust, emotional intensity, and readiness to support each other in difficult times. The number of friends a person has is another relevant factor, and having many friends is usually beneficial. However, if a person already has numerous friends, making even more friends may not significantly impact their well-being. Some people prefer large friend networks with looser connections, while others have few but strong friendships.

Health and disabilities

Main articles: Health and Disability

Health is the overall condition in which an organism functions as it should, both physically and mentally. Good physical health is associated with high energy and the ability to perform everyday activities. Physical illnesses and disabilities can negatively impact well-being by causing pain, limiting mobility, and reducing the capacity to engage in enjoyable or necessary activities. Good mental health is a state of internal equilibrium in which mental capacities work the way they should. Mental disorders are associated with some form of cognitive impairment. They typically disrupt the equilibrium by causing some form of distress and can also limit the activities a person can engage in. Discrimination can amplify the negative effects of socially stigmatized illnesses and disabilities.

Despite its general impact, health does not determine well-being and some individuals affected by severe illnesses and disabilities report high levels of subjective well-being. The availability of healthcare services can mitigate negative effects by providing treatments to restore health or manage and alleviate symptoms. Similarly, adopting a healthy lifestyle, like regular physical activity and a balanced diet, is associated with long-term benefits to well-being.

Other components

Knowledge is a cognitive success through which people stand in contact with reality. As such, it impacts well-being in various ways by influencing how people think, feel, and act. Knowledge assists in making good decisions, achieving positive outcomes, and avoiding negative ones. For example, knowledge of traffic rules helps prevent accidents and knowledge of a disease can aid in its treatment. However, it is controversial whether all types of knowledge contribute to well-being. For example, knowing unimportant facts, such as the exact number of blades of grass in one's backyard, may have no real benefits. Practically relevant knowledge about oneself and deep insights into general truths of the world, by contrast, typically have a more substantial impact on well-being.

In addition to knowledge, many related epistemic goods contribute to well-being, such as intelligence, problem-solving skills, creativity, open-mindedness, understanding, and wisdom. The value of epistemic goods is reflected in the emphasis given to education to foster the development of the minds of students.

Autonomy and freedom are often-discussed factors of well-being. They concern the possibility to choose, the ability to make informed decisions without coercion, and the capacity to act without being constrained by external forces. Individuals with a high level of autonomy and freedom tend to be more satisfied by having control over their lives. This enables them to decide between important options and choose a life that reflects their desires, preferences, and values. However, these conditions may not automatically lead to well-being and can sometimes have negative consequences. For example, a person lacking mental maturity and wisdom may freely engage in short-sighted egoism while ignoring negative long-term outcomes.

Eudaimonic conceptions of well-being stress the importance of character traits and virtues. Character traits are stable and consistent aspects of personality that influence how people think, feel, and act. Traits associated with well-being include wisdom, courage, kindness, justice, temperance, and gratitude. Virtues are character traits that promote ethical excellence, serving as dispositions to act morally. Virtue-based theories of well-being argue that virtue can be its own reward, for example, because living a morally upright life can be a fulfilling experience. However, virtue and well-being may also conflict, for instance, when altruistic service to a greater good requires personal sacrifice.

Various social factors influence well-being, such as income, quality of work, work-life balance, personal security, and schooling. Similarly, the physical environment plays a role, with factors like housing conditions, pollution, noise, and access to nature and recreational areas. Relevant factors on the biological level include genetic makeup and age.

Models

Models of well-being are frameworks to understand and measure well-being by clarifying its concept and components. Ed Diener's tripartite model identifies three essential components of subjective well-being: the presence of positive affects, the absence of negative affects, and a positive evaluation of one's life as a whole. Carol Ryff proposed the six-factor model of psychological well-being. It states that the main elements are self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and positive relations with others. Focusing on social well-being, Corey Keyes developed a five-component model based on social integration, social contribution, social coherence, social actualization, and social acceptance.

Martin Seligman articulated the PERMA theory as a model of well-being in general. Its five elements are positive emotions, engagement by following one's interests, interpersonal relationships, finding meaning in life, and accomplishments in the pursuit of success and mastery. Michael Bishop developed the network model of well-being, which includes components such as feelings, emotions, attitudes, traits, and interactions with one's environment. This model emphasizes that the different components form a causal network by influencing and reinforcing each other in complex ways.

In various fields

Well-being is relevant to many fields of inquiry as a central phenomenon of human life. Grouped under the umbrella term science of well-being, some disciplines investigate the nature and components of well-being directly. Others study its causes and effects in specific domains of life, such as physical and mental health, social relationships, altruism, tolerance, income, and productivity. Although philosophical research on well-being dates back millennia, interest in the topic within the empirical sciences has only intensified since the 2nd half of the 20th century. Earlier approaches in the social and biomedical sciences focused more on identifying, treating, and preventing negative outcomes rather than exploring and promoting factors of positive functioning.

A central motivation of academic inquiry is the belief that well-being can be improved through appropriate measures. Some of these measures focus on individual lifestyle changes. Others take the form of societal interventions to alter how economic, medical, educational, workplace, and political institutions function.

Positive psychology

Positive psychology is the branch of psychology dedicated to the study of well-being and related phenomena, like happiness and flourishing. It examines the factors and conditions of optimal human functioning. This inquiry focuses both on individual factors, like the experience of pleasure and pain and the role of character traits, and on societal factors, such as the way social institutions influence human well-being.

On the affective level, positive psychologists examine the different types of positive emotions, such as joy, amusement, serenity, and love. They identify distinct components associated with mental evaluations, physiological changes, facial expressions, experience, and action tendencies. Investigated topics include the conditions under which positive emotions arise, how they contribute to overall well-being, and how they differ from negative emotions.

On the cognitive level, positive psychology studies how intelligence, wisdom, and creativity improve quality of life. It further explores the relation between cognitive and affective processes, for example, how cognitive interpretations evoke emotions and how emotions prompt thought processes.

Another central subfield concerns the role of personality, in particular, how individuals differ regarding personality traits and how these traits impact well-being. The VIA model, an influential framework in positive psychology, analyzes personality based on six main virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. A closely related topic focuses on the role of the self, which encompasses the way a person conceptualizes and imagines themselves. Important factors for well-being are self-esteem, or how a person evaluates themselves, and authenticity, or the degree to which a person's behavior is subjectively consistent with their sense of self.

A further area explores the role of social and physical circumstances. This includes the effects of trust and cooperation on group well-being and dilemmas in which self-interest conflicts with group interest. Having close relationships and engaging in altruistic behavior are generally beneficial to a person's well-being.

In addition to the study of the different components and causes of well-being, positive psychologists also seek to understand how well-being changes over time. They are especially interested in the effects of major negative events, like the death of a child or bankruptcy, and aim to discern the psychological features that help people maintain their level of well-being, like self-regulation and an optimistic outlook.

Philosophy

Philosophy examines the nature, function, and theoretical foundations of well-being. Philosophers explore its essential features by developing and comparing theories of well-being, such as hedonistic theories, desire theories, and objective list theories. They also investigate the foundational principles of the scientific study of well-being. Considering that well-being has both subjective and evaluative aspects, they seek to determine whether scientific objectivity is possible and to what extent well-being can be quantified and compared between individuals.

Some philosophers challenge the concept of well-being, understood as what is ultimately good for someone. For instance, G. E. Moore rejects the idea that something can be good relative to a person, asserting instead that all values are impersonal. Another criticism suggests that the concept of well-being is incoherent, arguing that it groups together diverse elements without a shared essence.

Despite these criticisms, well-being plays a central role in ethics and value theory. Welfarism is the view that well-being is the only basic source of value. It holds that everything else, like intelligence and health care, is only valuable to the extent that it promotes well-being and reduces ill-being. Pure welfarists argue that the raw sum of everyone's well-being is all that matters. Impure welfarists consider additional factors, such as ensuring that well-being is distributed equally among people. This modification aims to avoid situations in which some people have abundantly good lives at the expense of others who experience severe deprivation.

Another topic concerns the relation between moral virtue and well-being. According to one view, the two always accompany each other, meaning it is in everyone's self-interest to act virtuously. An alternative perspective denies this close connection, stating that, at least in some cases, a virtuous person has to compromise their own well-being for the greater good. Philosophers further explore the relation between well-being and death. One position questions the common-sense idea that death is generally bad for a person. It argues that since death marks the end of a person's existence, there is nothing that can benefit or harm the person anymore. Animal ethicists apply the concept of well-being to non-human animals, examining what animal well-being consists in and how it affects the moral obligations of humans toward non-human animals.

Others

Welfare economics studies the influence of economic activity on well-being. One of its primary goals is to develop standards for evaluating and choosing between competing policy proposals based on their potential benefit to well-being. This field uses metrics such as distribution of income, gross domestic product, consumer surplus, and compensating variation. For example, distributing income more equally is usually beneficial for well-being but needs to be balanced against potential negative side effects, such as a decline in productivity. The economics of happiness, a closely related field, focuses specifically on the connection between economic phenomena and individual happiness. One of its findings is the Easterlin paradox: within a given country, people with higher income tend to be happier than those with lower income, yet overall happiness does not trend upward as the average income of everyone increases.

A color-coded map of the world
The World Happiness Index (2023) measures levels of happiness worldwide.

The growing academic interest in well-being is also reflected in the political sphere, challenging the gross domestic product as the main indicator of national success. As a result, indices to track, compare, and promote the well-being of populations and related phenomena have been established at both national and international levels. Examples are Bhutan's Gross National Happiness, the UK Measures of National Well-being, and the World Happiness Report. Following this trend, policymakers are increasingly relying on well-being metrics and related factors to inform their decision-making processes. It also affects the field of law, where considerations about how to protect and promote well-being can influence legislation.

Well-being is also a topic in various biological sciences with a focus on the biological factors influencing the well-being. Research from twin studies suggests that genetic composition is one of the most impactful factors. In neuroscience, researchers try to uncover the neural correlates of well-being using neuroimaging techniques.

The problem of well-being plays a central role in medicine since medical interventions typically aim to restore, secure, and enhance patient well-being. Considerations of well-being also affect the treatment of incurable diseases, like Parkinson's disease. In such cases, therapies aim to minimize negative effects, helping patients lead productive and fulfilling lives despite their illness. However, well-being is not the only consideration governing medical interventions and the commitment to patient autonomy is another core principle. This can lead to conflicts when patients act against their self-interest and reject treatments that would improve their well-being.

Sociologists examine the relation between well-being and social phenomena, such as race, socioeconomic status, and education. They use both subjective and objective metrics, with some studies dedicated to well-being in general, while others focus on specific domains, such as work, family, and housing, or on particular demographic groups, such as employees or the elderly.

Anthropologists are interested in the concept of well-being in different cultures. They seek to understand what people at different times and places associate with a good life, such as the culture-specific norms, values, and practices for achieving personal well-being. A key assumption in this field is that the concept of well-being involves a commitment to what is desirable and an evaluative framework for guiding behavior and assessing lifestyles. Anthropologists compare these commitments and frameworks across different cultures, like the differences between Western and non-Western conceptions of well-being. They describe the similarities and differences, typically without taking a position on which view is superior.

Diverse perspectives on well-being are also found in religious and other traditional belief systems, where well-being often serves as a goal of spiritual practice. In various traditional forms of Hinduism, the highest kind of well-being is not determined by objective external conditions. Instead, it depends primarily on experiential knowledge of the self, brought about through practices like self-inquiry and meditation. Buddhism identifies suffering as a central aspect of all existence. It aims to produce well-being by eliminating the causes of suffering, such as desire and ignorance, achieved through the practice of Buddhist virtues, like compassion, loving-kindness, and equanimity. From the perspective of Confucianism, well-being consists in virtuous activity as a process leading to sagehood. According to Taoism, a life high in well-being is characterized by effortless action that is in harmony with nature and guided by spontaneous dispositions. The Christian tradition holds that the personal connection to God is a central factor of well-being, which may manifest in virtuous activity or contemplation of God. According to the teachings of Islam, well-being is achieved by dedicating one's life as much as possible to worshiping Allah and fulfilling His will, as expressed in the Quran.

See also

References

Notes

  1. Some theorists also use the term to also talk about the state of a group of people.
  2. In a slightly different sense, the term is also used as a synonym for subjective well-being.
  3. There are various alternative definitions of emotional well-being and it is sometimes used as an umbrella term including many other types of well-being.
  4. As a technical term, hedonism describes a respectable philosophical position. It contrasts with the negative meaning of the term found in everyday language, denoting an egoistic lifestyle seeking short-term gratification.
  5. Some researchers use the term hedon to quantify the amount of pleasure contained in an experience.
  6. Some versions of desire theories are only interested in whether a desire is objectively fulfilled or not, independent of whether the person subjectively knows about it. According to others, fulfilled desires are only valuable if the person believes that they are fulfilled.
  7. Although these elements are characteristic of most emotions, the precise definition of emotions is disputed and some emotions lack certain elements.
  8. These categories are not exclusive. For example, a co-worker can be a friend at the same time.
  9. Some theorists distinguish different types of friendship, arguing that they do not contribute to well-being in the same way. For example, a friendship based on the enjoyment of each other's company is different from one based on achieving a common goal. An influential characterization by Aristotle holds that in the highest form of friendship, each friend cares about the other for the other's own sake.
  10. The exact definitions of these terms are disputed.
  11. Some definitions are limited to the well-being of humans while others take the well-being of all sentient creatures into account.
  12. A closely related discussion is between atomists and holists about well-being. Their disagreements touch on questions like whether momentary well-being is more basic than well-being over extended periods of time and whether the temporal order of episodes of well-being matters.

Citations

  1. ^ Crisp 2021.
  2. Headey, Holmström & Wearing 1984.
  3. Stone, Arthur A.; Mackie, Christopher (2013). "Introduction". Subjective Well-Being: Measuring Happiness, Suffering, and Other Dimensions of Experience. National Academies Press (US). Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  4. "Pedestrians' Perceptions of Motorized Traffic Variables in Relation to Appraisals of Urban Route Environments".
  5. "Physical activity behaviours and environmental well-being in a spatial context".
  9. Hooker 2015, p. 15
  11. Campbell 2015, p. 403
  21. Campbell 2015, p. 404
  23. OED Staff 2024
  24. ^ Fletcher 2015.
  25. Yang, Haiyang; Ma, Jingjing (1 August 2021). "How the COVID-19 pandemic impacts tobacco addiction: Changes in smoking behavior and associations with well-being". Addictive Behaviors. 119: 106917. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106917. ISSN 0306-4603. PMC 9186053. PMID 33862579.
  26. Yang, Haiyang; Ma, Jingjing (1 June 2021). "Relationship between wealth and emotional well-being before, during, versus after a nationwide disease outbreak: a large-scale investigation of disparities in psychological vulnerability across COVID-19 pandemic phases in China". BMJ Open. 11 (6): e044262. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044262. ISSN 2044-6055. PMC 8184351. PMID 34088706. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  27. Kahneman, D.; Deaton, A. (21 September 2010). "High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (38): 16489–16493. Bibcode:2010PNAS..10716489K. doi:10.1073/pnas.1011492107. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 2944762. PMID 20823223.
  28. Rice, Christopher M. (June 2013). "Defending the Objective List Theory of Well-Being". Ratio. 26 (2): 196–211. doi:10.1111/rati.12007.
  29. Schramme, Thomas (2017). "Subjective and Objective Accounts of Well-Being and Quality of Life". Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine. pp. 159–168. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-8688-1_7. ISBN 978-94-017-8687-4.
  30. Dfarhud, Dariush; Malmir, Maryam; Khanahmadi, Mohammad (1 November 2014). "Happiness & Health: The Biological Factors- Systematic Review Article". Iranian Journal of Public Health. 43 (11): 1468–1477. ISSN 2251-6085. PMC 4449495. PMID 26060713.
  31. ^ Gomez-Gomez, Alex; Martin, Blanca Montero-San; Haro, Noemí; Pozo, Oscar J. (15 November 2023). "Determination of well-being-related markers in nails by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry". Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. 267: 115586. Bibcode:2023EcoES.26715586G. doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115586. hdl:10230/61376. ISSN 0147-6513. PMID 37897979.
  32. "WellBeing Biomarkers". www.dropbiohealth.com. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  33. Slade, Mike (26 January 2010). "Mental illness and well-being: the central importance of positive psychology and recovery approaches". BMC Health Services Research. 10 (1): 26. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-26. ISSN 1472-6963. PMC 2835700. PMID 20102609.
  34. Seligman 2011, § 1. What Is Well-Being? - The Elements of Well-Being.
  39. Boelhouwer & Noll 2023, p. 4784
  46. Rodman & Fry 2009, p. 10
  48. Tavanti 2023, p. 444
  51. Park et al. 2023, pp. 11–14
  58. Weijers, § 1a. Folk Hedonism
  61. Bradley 2015a, pp. 16
  62. Bradley 2015a, pp. 16
  68. Bradley 2015a, pp. 34–35
  69. Bradley 2015a, pp. 34–35, 46
  73. Crisp 2021, § 4.2 Desire Theories
  75. Hooker 2015, pp. 29–30
  81. Besser-Jones 2015, pp. 187–189
  82. Tiberius & Haybron 2022, p. 606
  88. Zelenski 2020, § Defining Emotions and Other Affective States, § Positive emotions - Summing Up
  89. Tov & Diener 2013, Lead section
  94. Hooker 2015, pp. 21–22
  97. Yalom 2020, pp. 431, 435, 437
  100. Fehr & Harasymchuk 2017, pp. 104–105
  104. Bradley 2015, pp. 63–65
  105. Fehr & Harasymchuk 2017, p. 106
  107. Jeske 2015, pp. 233–234
  111. Schroeder 2015, pp. 221–222
  112. Schroeder 2015, pp. 221–222
  115. Steup & Neta 2024, Lead section, § 1. The Varieties of Cognitive Success
  139. Zelenski 2020, § 5. The Self - Summing up
  145. Crisp 2021, § 3. Scanlon's Challenge
  148. Bramble 2020, § What is welfarism?
  149. Raibley 2015, pp. 342–343
  154. Graham 2012, pp. 6–8
  156. Kelly 2021, 1. Who We are
  158. Sarch 2015, p. 479
  168. Kim 2015, p. 40
  169. Tiwald 2015, pp. 56–57

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