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Lu-Lerner Philosophy Honors Thesis.pdf (169.36 KB)
ETD Abstract Container
Abstract Header
How Well Can We Measure Well-Being?
Author Info
Lu-Lerner, Lily X
Permalink:
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1589813816828266
Abstract Details
Year and Degree
2020, BA, Oberlin College, Philosophy.
Abstract
I will define the meaning of subjective well-being that I believe is the most intrinsic normative good, explain why improving the subjective well-being of sentient individuals ought to be the highest ethical priority, and provide reasons for why finding a way to measure subjective well-being would essentially benefit decision-makers and grassroots altruists. Subjective well-being is a dauntingly nebulous property to attempt to measure with precision, but I will comment on the progress that philosophers and social scientists have made in this field. Although (1) there is no set of well-being criteria that is applicable to every sentient individual (including non-human animals) and (2) most sentient individuals are unable to communicate with us about their level of subjective well-being use or relevant experiential factors, we may yet be able to develop an intrapersonally and interpersonally cardinal method to measure subjective well-being.
Committee
Todd Ganson (Advisor)
Pages
53 p.
Subject Headings
Ethics
;
Philosophy
;
Philosophy of Science
;
Psychology
;
Welfare
Keywords
Philosophy
;
Subjective
;
Well-being
;
Subjective well-being
;
Measuring subjective well-being
;
Measure subjective well-being
;
Ethics
;
Moral philosophy
;
Morality
;
Global priorities
;
Global priorities research
;
Happiness
;
Measuring happiness
Recommended Citations
Refworks
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Citations
Lu-Lerner, L. X. (2020).
How Well Can We Measure Well-Being?
[Undergraduate thesis, Oberlin College]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1589813816828266
APA Style (7th edition)
Lu-Lerner, Lily.
How Well Can We Measure Well-Being?
2020. Oberlin College, Undergraduate thesis.
OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center
, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1589813816828266.
MLA Style (8th edition)
Lu-Lerner, Lily. "How Well Can We Measure Well-Being?" Undergraduate thesis, Oberlin College, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1589813816828266
Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)
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Document number:
oberlin1589813816828266
Download Count:
410
Copyright Info
© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Oberlin College Honors Theses and OhioLINK.