Anna Alexandrova

Do the new sciences of well-being provide knowledge that respects the nature of well-being? This text written from the perspective of philosophy of science articulates how this field can speak to well-being proper and can do so in a way that respects the demands of objectivity and measurement.

A Philosophy for the Science of Well-being

Well-being, happiness and quality of life are now established objects of social and medical research. Does this science produce knowledge that is properly about well-being? What sort of well-being? The definition and measurement of these objects rest on assumptions that are partly normative, partly empirical and partly pragmatic, producing a great diversity of definitions depending on the project and the discipline. This book, written from the perspective of philosophy of science, formulates principles for the responsible production and interpretation of this diverse knowledge. Traditionally, philosophers' goal has been a single concept of well-being and a single theory about what it consists in. But for science this goal is both unlikely and unnecessary. Instead the promise and authority of the science depends on it focusing on the well-being of specific kinds of people in specific contexts. Skeptical arguments notwithstanding, this contextual well-being can be measured in a valid and credible way - but only if scientists broaden their methods to make room for normative considerations and address publicly and inclusively the value-based conflicts that inevitably arise when a measure of well-being is adopted. The science of well-being can be normative, empirical and objective all at once, provided that we line up values to science and science to values.

A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being

Christopher Newfield

Stephen John

This collection examines the uses of quantification in climate science, higher education, and health. Numbers may seem fragile--they are, after all, frequent objects of obfuscation or outright denial--but they have also never been more influential in our society, figuring into everything from college rankings to vaccine efficacy rates. This timely collection by a diverse group of humanists and social scientists challenges undue reverence or skepticism toward quantification and shows how it can be a force for good despite its many abuses. Limits of the Numerical focuses on quantification in several contexts: the role of numerical estimates and targets in explaining and planning for climate change; the quantification of outcomes in teaching and research; and numbers representing health, the effectiveness of medical interventions, and well-being more broadly. The authors complicate our understanding of these numbers, uncovering, for example, epistemic problems with some core numbers in climate science. But their theme is less the problems revealed by case studies than the methodological issues common to them all. This volume shows the many ways that qualitative and quantitative approaches can productively interact--how the limits of the numerical can be overcome through equitable partnerships with historical, institutional, and philosophical analysis.

Anna Alexandrova

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