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The Foundations of Well‐Being
Author(s) -
Moss Jeremy
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
australian economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1467-8462
pISSN - 0004-9018
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8462.2013.12001.x
Subject(s) - preference , capability approach , face (sociological concept) , context (archaeology) , positive economics , epistemology , economics , psychology , sociology , social science , microeconomics , philosophy , economic growth , paleontology , biology
This article considers the philosophical foundations of preference‐based and capability approaches to well‐being. I argue that standard preference‐based approaches face difficulties in providing a satisfactory account of well‐being and that the capability approach, developed by Amartya Sen, offers a superior account. In particular, I argue that subjective preference accounts of well‐being are philosophically difficult to sustain and utilise in a public policy context.