Well‐Being: Psychological Research for Philosophers

Abstract

Well‐being in the broadest sense is what we have when we are living lives that are not necessarily morally good, but good for us. In philosophy, well‐being has been an important topic of inquiry for millennia. In psychology, well‐being as a topic has been gathering steam very recently and this research is now at a stage that warrants the attention of philosophers. The most popular theories of well‐being in the two fields are similar enough to suggest the possibility of interdisciplinary collaboration. In this essay I provide an overview of three of the main questions that arise from psychologists’ work on well‐being, and highlight areas that invite philosophical input. Those questions center on the nature, measurement, and moral significance of well‐being. I also argue that the life‐satisfaction theory is particularly well suited to meet the various demands on a theory of well‐being.