INTRODUCTION

Well-being has a long-distinguished history as a locus of philosophical exploration. This should come as no surprise. Much practical philosophy is focused on the questions of how we ought to live in general, what we ought to do, or what morality requires of us. But the answer to these questions must be sensitive to the question of how it would be best for us to live. That is, what I ought to do is surely in at least some way affected by what would make my life go better or worse for me. To make this less abstract, think about the following cases.