Abstract
My task in this essay is to suggest a characterization of a concept of quality of life which could, hopefully, serve as a conceptual basis for the construction and evaluation of instruments designed for the measurement of quality of life. The concept to be developed is a subjectivist concept, in fact identified with happiness-with-life. Happiness is looked upon as a species of — by far the most important species of — well-being. Well-being is in its turn distinguished from welfare. Welfare is the set of states of affairs, mostly external to the subject but not necessarily so, which contribute to his well-being. Thus to a person’s welfare belongs his economic situation, his family relations, his professional situation, as well as his internal resources, in particular his health.
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Nordenfelt, L. (1994). Towards a Theory of Happiness: A Subjectivist Notion of Quality of Life. In: Nordenfelt, L. (eds) Concepts and Measurement of Quality of Life in Health Care. European Studies in Philosophy of Medicine 1, vol 47. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8344-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8344-2_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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