In:
Utilitas, Cambridge University Press (CUP), Vol. 32, No. 1 ( 2020-03), p. 118-125
Abstract:
In a recent article in this journal, Tobias Fuchs has offered a ‘working test’ for well-being. According to this test, if it is fitting to feel compassion for a subject because they have some property, then the subject is badly off because they have that property. Since subjects of deception seem a fitting target for compassion, this test is said to imply that a number of important views, including hedonism, are false. I argue that this line of reasoning is mistaken: seems fitting does not imply is badly off. I suggest that Fuchs's test can tell us little about well-being that we do not already know; and ultimately, tests of the sort he proposes can yield little insight into the nature of well-being.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0953-8208
,
1741-6183
DOI:
10.1017/S0953820819000311
Language:
English
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publication Date:
2020
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2069429-5
SSG:
7,25
SSG:
5,1
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