What's good for each individual?
Theories of well-being try to figure out what's good or bad for each individual, in itself. Here, "well-being" is a broader word than in everyday life: it means everything that makes someone's life go better or worse.
These theories discuss three main aspects.
1. Experiences
The most obvious aspect is experiences: what someone feels.
- Harming means causing a bad experience (suffering) or preventing a good one (for example, through death).
- Benefiting means causing a good experience or preventing a bad one.
This doesn't deny that a bad experience can sometimes be useful, like pain that warns of danger.
2. Preferences
Some theories say it also matters whether someone's desires are satisfied or frustrated. They disagree about which desires count.
3. Objective goods
Others say some things are good for us even if we don't want them and they don't give us pleasure. Common examples: true friendship, knowledge, developing your talents.
One thing or several?
- Monist theories say only one of these aspects matters in itself.
- Pluralist theories say several matter.
Hedonism, for example, is monist: only experiences matter.
In short
- Theories of well-being ask what's good for each individual.
- The three main aspects are experiences, preferences, and objective goods.
- Some theories accept only one aspect; others accept several.