Welfarism

Abstract

Well-being is most commonly used in philosophy to describe what isnon-instrumentally or ultimately good for a person. Thequestion of what well-being consists in is of independent interest,but it is of great importance in moral philosophy, especially in thecase of utilitarianism, according to which the only moral requirementis that well-being be maximized. Significant challenges to the verynotion have been mounted, in particular by G.E. Moore and T.M.Scanlon. It has become standard to distinguish theories of well-beingas either hedonist theories, desire theories, or objective listtheories. According to the view known as welfarism, well-being is theonly value. Also important in ethics is the question of how aperson’s moral character and actions relate to theirwell-being.