What really is good for people? A practical theory for impact-making, policy evaluation and life more generally

Abstract

Many governments and other organizations aim to promote “public wellbeing”, “social impact” or other positive buzzwords—all of which essentially concern what is good for people. But what really is good for people? This article outlines a theory of goodness, coupled with some of its practical implications for impact-making, governance and our lives more generally. The theory proposes that goodness consists of positive feelings and whatever promotes them, such as the joy of a meaningful conversation or the satisfaction of eating food, for instance. Although it is a version of ethical hedonism, the theory is also called welfarism since it allocates a central role to affect and since affect is central to some prevalent measures of “subjective wellbeing”. To motivate the theory, I draw on the role that the concept of goodness plays in guiding actions, as well as how feelings guide actions for objective evolutionary and genetic reasons. The theory then has a range of implications about what is good for people, about how science and self-exploration are necessary to find happiness and about how governments can be understood and evaluated in terms of the extent to which they promote the wellbeing of their citizens—among many other implications.