Philosophy and Well-Being

This chapter aims to provide the reader with an understanding of philosophical research on well-being in the Western analytic tradition. For the last several decades, philosophical theories of well-being have been divided into “the big three”: hedonism, desire satisfactionism, and objective list theories (Parfit 1984). This tripartite classificatory system now seems limited, however, and some recent research suggests dividing philosophical theories of well-being into two types: enumerative and explanatory. The authors follow this line of thought here. Under the heading of enumerative theories, they discuss the most popular monistic theory on offer, hedonism, as well as pluralistic theories. They conclude from their review of enumerative theories that explanatory theories (theories that explain why pleasure or the other potential items on the list of goods do indeed contribute to well-being) also have an important role to play. Under the heading of explanatory theories, they discuss perfectionism, desire satisfactionism, and value fulfillment.