ABSTRACT
Classical liberal accounts of well-being and its enhancement depend on particular views of self-interest, attitudes to time, and personal identity. For example, Adam Smith (2011, p. 216), Henry Sidgwick (1981, p. 381), and John Rawls (1973, p. 420), variously argue that someone acting in her self-interest has a neutral attitude to time. Her future self has the same importance to her as her present self, and she acts accordingly. This enables her to plan for her future – sometimes enduring short-term present pain for long-term future well-being – knowing that overall her life will go better. These prudent choices are therefore informed by her taking stock of her life led as a whole, having no bias to specific time periods (also see Brink, 2003, 1997).
