Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness
In this paper I discuss the major approaches to happiness in the economics of happiness: hedonism and life-satisfaction approaches. It is possible to identify a tension between two important principles in this literature: 1) individuals are the best judges of their own happiness, and 2) the purpose...
- Autores:
-
Melo Arias, Santiago
- Tipo de recurso:
- Work document
- Fecha de publicación:
- 2011
- Institución:
- Universidad de los Andes
- Repositorio:
- Séneca: repositorio Uniandes
- Idioma:
- eng
- OAI Identifier:
- oai:repositorio.uniandes.edu.co:1992/8222
- Acceso en línea:
- http://hdl.handle.net/1992/8222
- Palabra clave:
- Happiness
Hedonism
Life-satisfaction approaches
Aristotle
Seneca
Aim and scope of economics
Filosofía de la economía
Felicidad - Aspectos económicos
Bienestar personal - Aspectos económicos
Economía - Aspectos psicológicos
A11, A13, B11
- Rights
- openAccess
- License
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness |
| dc.title.alternative.none.fl_str_mv |
Eudaimonía y economía de la felicidad |
| title |
Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness |
| spellingShingle |
Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness Happiness Hedonism Life-satisfaction approaches Aristotle Seneca Aim and scope of economics Filosofía de la economía Felicidad - Aspectos económicos Bienestar personal - Aspectos económicos Economía - Aspectos psicológicos A11, A13, B11 |
| title_short |
Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness |
| title_full |
Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness |
| title_fullStr |
Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness |
| title_sort |
Eudaimonia and the economics of happiness |
| dc.creator.fl_str_mv |
Melo Arias, Santiago |
| dc.contributor.author.none.fl_str_mv |
Melo Arias, Santiago |
| dc.subject.keyword.none.fl_str_mv |
Happiness Hedonism Life-satisfaction approaches Aristotle Seneca Aim and scope of economics |
| topic |
Happiness Hedonism Life-satisfaction approaches Aristotle Seneca Aim and scope of economics Filosofía de la economía Felicidad - Aspectos económicos Bienestar personal - Aspectos económicos Economía - Aspectos psicológicos A11, A13, B11 |
| dc.subject.armarc.none.fl_str_mv |
Filosofía de la economía Felicidad - Aspectos económicos Bienestar personal - Aspectos económicos Economía - Aspectos psicológicos |
| dc.subject.jel.none.fl_str_mv |
A11, A13, B11 |
| description |
In this paper I discuss the major approaches to happiness in the economics of happiness: hedonism and life-satisfaction approaches. It is possible to identify a tension between two important principles in this literature: 1) individuals are the best judges of their own happiness, and 2) the purpose of economics should be the direct endorsement of happiness. I argue that hedonism conflicts with the first principle. In the case of life-satisfaction theories, the restricted approach conflicts with both principles while the unrestricted approach only with the second. I also argue that the field presents difficulties establishing happiness as a consistent normative concept. In order to show this, I return to the theories of Aristotle and Seneca because: 1) both the ancients and these economists consider happiness as the overarching good; 2) even though these economists recognize the importance of eudaimonistic theories, their interpretation and use has not been satisfactory; 3) the debate between Aristotle and Seneca has implications both on the quantitative character of happiness and on the role of public policy regarding its promotion. The main lesson of the ancients is methodological: what made the discussion so rich among them was their awareness that happiness was principally a normative concept whose content had to adjust in order to meet its normative demands; a point contemporary literature seems to have missed. |
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2011 |
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2011 |
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2018-09-27T16:51:22Z |
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2018-09-27T16:51:22Z |
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Documento de trabajo |
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http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaper |
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1657-5334 |
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http://hdl.handle.net/1992/8222 |
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1657-7191 |
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10.57784/1992/8222 |
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instname:Universidad de los Andes |
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reponame:Repositorio Institucional Séneca |
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http://hdl.handle.net/1992/8222 |
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eng |
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eng |
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Documentos CEDE No. 05 Febrero de 2011 |
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https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000089/008730.html |
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openAccess |
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50 páginas |
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application/pdf |
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Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE |
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Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE |
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Universidad de los Andes |
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Al consultar y hacer uso de este recurso, está aceptando las condiciones de uso establecidas por los autores.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Melo Arias, Santiago6bf9c72c-5881-437f-822d-d1ff26d6971f6002018-09-27T16:51:22Z2018-09-27T16:51:22Z20111657-5334http://hdl.handle.net/1992/82221657-719110.57784/1992/8222instname:Universidad de los Andesreponame:Repositorio Institucional Sénecarepourl:https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/In this paper I discuss the major approaches to happiness in the economics of happiness: hedonism and life-satisfaction approaches. It is possible to identify a tension between two important principles in this literature: 1) individuals are the best judges of their own happiness, and 2) the purpose of economics should be the direct endorsement of happiness. I argue that hedonism conflicts with the first principle. In the case of life-satisfaction theories, the restricted approach conflicts with both principles while the unrestricted approach only with the second. I also argue that the field presents difficulties establishing happiness as a consistent normative concept. In order to show this, I return to the theories of Aristotle and Seneca because: 1) both the ancients and these economists consider happiness as the overarching good; 2) even though these economists recognize the importance of eudaimonistic theories, their interpretation and use has not been satisfactory; 3) the debate between Aristotle and Seneca has implications both on the quantitative character of happiness and on the role of public policy regarding its promotion. The main lesson of the ancients is methodological: what made the discussion so rich among them was their awareness that happiness was principally a normative concept whose content had to adjust in order to meet its normative demands; a point contemporary literature seems to have missed.En este documento se discuten las principales aproximaciones a la felicidad en la economía de la felicidad: el hedonismo y los enfoques de satisfacción de vida. Es posible identificar una tensión entre dos principios importantes en esta literatura: 1) los individuos son los mejores jueces de su propia felicidad, y 2) el propósito de la economía debe ser la promoción directa de la felicidad. El artículo sostiene que el hedonismo choca con el primer principio. En el caso de las teorías de satisfacción de vida, el enfoque restringido choca con ambos principios, mientras que el no restringido sólo con el segundo. El artículo también sostiene que esta rama tiene dificultades para presentar la felicidad como un concepto normativo consistente. Para mostrar esto se estudian las teorías de Aristóteles y Séneca porque: 1) tanto los economistas de la felicidad como los antiguos consideran que la felicidad es el fin último de la vida humana; 2) aunque estos economistas reconocen la importancia de las teorías eudaimonistas de la felicidad, su interpretación y uso no han sido satisfactorios; y 3) el debate entre Aristóteles y Séneca tiene implicaciones importantes sobre el carácter cuantitativo de la felicidad y la capacidad de las políticas públicas para promoverla. La lección principal de los antiguos es metodológica: la riqueza de sus discusiones radica en que las distintas escuelas eran conscientes de que la felicidad es principalmente un concepto ético, cuyo contenido ha de ajustarse a sus exigencias normativas. Éste es un punto que la literatura contemporánea parece haber pasado por alto.50 páginasapplication/pdfengUniversidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDEDocumentos CEDE No. 05 Febrero de 2011https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000089/008730.htmlEudaimonia and the economics of happinessEudaimonía y economía de la felicidadDocumento de trabajoinfo:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85Texthttps://purl.org/redcol/resource_type/WPHappinessHedonismLife-satisfaction approachesAristotleSenecaAim and scope of economicsFilosofía de la economíaFelicidad - Aspectos económicosBienestar personal - Aspectos económicosEconomía - Aspectos psicológicosA11, A13, B11Facultad de EconomíaPublicationTEXTdcede2011-05.pdf.txtdcede2011-05.pdf.txtExtracted texttext/plain142451https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstreams/cc0fefee-ef93-402b-b593-23eebaf60eea/download97954a0c6214ed3b03b2789dac37d849MD54THUMBNAILdcede2011-05.pdf.jpgdcede2011-05.pdf.jpgIM Thumbnailimage/jpeg4031https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstreams/e579eeb6-ac44-4634-9d9f-f1f4bd79ee50/downloadc5c8fcb01c0ef035dd73474306b1aae6MD55ORIGINALdcede2011-05.pdfdcede2011-05.pdfapplication/pdf749257https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstreams/caf1b7a9-29a8-447e-ad96-ecc1d96e8a66/download0f623d74d63b5da07ffdf84e31323cf7MD511992/8222oai:repositorio.uniandes.edu.co:1992/82222024-06-04 15:39:50.261http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/open.accesshttps://repositorio.uniandes.edu.coRepositorio institucional Sénecaadminrepositorio@uniandes.edu.co |