A Theory of Well-Being

dc.contributor.advisorSher, Georgeen_US
dc.contributor.advisorSiewert, Charlesen_US
dc.creatorZuk, Peter Daviden_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-12-04T15:09:45Zen_US
dc.date.available2020-12-01T06:01:11Zen_US
dc.date.created2019-12en_US
dc.date.issued2019-12-03en_US
dc.date.submittedDecember 2019en_US
dc.date.updated2019-12-04T15:09:46Zen_US
dc.description.abstractI defend the view that the value of every contribution to individual well-being is explained by affective experience, suitably defined. In Chapter 1, I set out a methodological approach centered on Rawlsian wide reflective equilibrium and offer considerations in favor of affective experience as a uniquely powerful explanation of contributions to well-being. The remaining three chapters employ affective experience as an explanation of the goodness of the goods proposed by three leading theories of wellbeing: hedonism, desired-based views, and objective list views. In Chapter 2, I offer arguments against attitudinal conceptions of pleasure and defend instead an affective conception of pleasure that provides a plausible way of unifying two major phenomenological conceptions of pleasure. In Chapter 3, I defend an affective conception of desire and offer arguments against motivational and cognitivist conceptions of desire. In Chapter 4, I provide an account of reasons for affective states and apply this account to several purportedly objective goods: love, friendship, virtue, and self-respect. The goodness of these goods for individuals, I argue, can be explained by appeal to affective experience in a way that does not depart from what is most important in subjective approaches to well-being. Having offered a deeper explanation of the goodness of the various goods proposed by these three leading theories of well-being, I conclude that my theory is preferable to them.en_US
dc.embargo.terms2020-12-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationZuk, Peter David. "A Theory of Well-Being." (2019) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/107754">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/107754</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/107754en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectwell-beingen_US
dc.subjectvalue theoryen_US
dc.subjectaffecten_US
dc.subjectpleasureen_US
dc.subjectdesireen_US
dc.titleA Theory of Well-Beingen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentPhilosophyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanitiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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