Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
7-2022
Abstract
Many philosophers now see meaning in life as a key evaluative category that stands alongside well-being and moral goodness. Our lives are assessed not only by how well they go for us and how morally good they are, but also by their meaningfulness. In this article, I raise a challenge to this view. Theories of meaning in life closely resemble theories of well-being, and there is a suspicion that the former collapse into the latter. I develop this challenge showing that it is formidable. I then answer it by offering a novel account of what meaning in life is and how it differs from well-being. The account I offer is able to resist the strongest form of the challenge while also having much intuitive appeal.
Keywords
Meaning in life, well-being, balance, value theory, significance
Discipline
Philosophy
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Canadian Journal of Philosophy
Volume
52
Issue
5
First Page
573
Last Page
587
ISSN
0045-5091
Identifier
10.1017/can.2023.1
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Citation
HAMMERTON, Matthew.(2022). Well-being and meaning in life. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 52(5), 573-587.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3740
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1017/can.2023.1