THIS PAPER INTRODUCES SOME DISTINCTIONS RELATED TO FACTS AND VALUES, INDICATES SOME OF THE USES AND MISUSES OF THESE DISTINCTIONS, AND DRAWS CONCLUSIONS FOR THE PROBLEM OF RATIONAL DECISION MAKING. A MAJOR CLAIM IS THAT EVERYONE EXCEPT METAPHYSICIANS SHOULD FORGET ABOUT THE FACT-VALUE DISTINCTION AND GET ON WITH THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH AND THE PERFORMANCE OF GOOD DEEDS.
Ruut Veenhoven's Livability Concept and Children's Happiness Around the Globe (Sergiu Baltatescu) -- Pursuing Happiness on the Road Less Traveled (Ad Bergsma) -- Have the Dutch Become Happier? And What about the Dutch 'Happiness Professor', Ruut Veenhoven? (Jeroen Boelhouwer) -- The Forgotten Dimensions of Social Capital: Evidence from Quality of Life Studies (Gael Brulé) -- Urban-Rural Happiness Differentials in the Netherlands (Martijn Burger) -- Happiness or Life Satisfaction? The Case of Children (Ferran Casas and Mònica González) -- Ruut Veenhoven: Worthy Recipient of the Golden Triangle of Happiness (Robert A. Cummins) -- Our Fearless Leader (Edward F. Diener) -- Your Happiness Comrade-in-Arms (Richard A. Easterlin) -- Il Maestro of Happiness (Richard J. Estes) -- On the Scientific Study of Happiness (Carol Graham) -- The Social Democratic Agenda: The Impact of Scandinavian Social Democratic Regimes on Income Equality, Economic Security, Gender Equality, Levels and Inequality of Life Satisfaction (Bruce W. Headey and Ruud Muffels) -- Organizations with Virtuous Leaders Flourish More (Martijn Hendriks) -- Moving Beyond the GDP: Emerging Measures and Findings (Mohsen Joshanloo) -- Zest and Adventures in Happiness Research (Anna Lau) -- Ruut Veenhoven: A very Wise Man (Kai Ludwigs) -- Unhappiness, Life-Dissatisfaction and Economic Deprivation in the Philippines: Three Decades of Survey History (Mahar Mangahas) -- Good Societies, Financial Inequality and Secrecy, and a Good Life: From Aristotle To Piketty (Alex C. Michalos) -- Hambakahle, 'Go Well', from Africa (Valerie Møller) -- The Good Life Under Attack – Reflections on the Future of the Quality of Life Concept (Heinz-Herbert Noll) -- Contentment and Affect in the Assessment of Life Satisfaction: More Empirical Findings and New Questions (Mariano Rojas) -- A Happiness Path Taken Together (Peggy Schyns) -- What Makes Chinese People Happy? Insights from a Traditional Chinese Essay and a Hong Kong Cantopop (Daniel T.L. Shek) -- Calling for Social Support: Whose Support and What Types of Support Matter for Early Adolescents' Life Satisfaction (Kimberly G. Sitter, E. Scott Huebner, and Kimberly J. Hills) -- The Relation Between Happiness and Public Policies: The Opinion of University Students (Graciela Tonon) -- Prospective Well-Being, Relative Income and Tolerance of Inequality in Japan (Ming-Chang Tsai) -- A Passion for Happiness: Ruut Veenhoven, Eudaimonia and the Good Life (Joarvitterso) -- Wellbeing and the Four Qualities of Life (Dan Weijers) -- Ruut Veenhoven and the Latin-American Paradox of Happiness (Eduardo Wills-Herrera) -- A Critique of the Conventional Methods of Survey Item Transformations, with an Eye to Quantification (Bruno D. Zumbo and Pamela Woitschach) -- Photographs to Remember (Alex C. Michalos).
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Other Books by Alex C. Michalos -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Overview of the "The Selected Works of Alex C. Michalos" -- Introduction to "Selected Works of Alex C. Michalos" -- Biographical Notes -- Comments on the Articles -- 1 Social Sciences and Business Ethics -- References -- 2 Business Ethics and the Quality of Life -- Ethical Foundations -- The Quality of Life -- From Pleasure and Pain to the Quality of Life -- Critical Issues for Consequentialist Quality of Life Assessment -- Some Problems -- Conclusion -- Further Reading -- Relevant Website -- 3 The Costs of Decision-Making -- Production, Implementation and Failure -- Production Costs -- Implementation Costs -- Failure Costs -- Overview -- Bargaining and Protection -- Planning Costs -- Concluding Remarks -- References -- 4 Efficiency and Morality -- 5 Rationality Between the Maximizers and the Satisficers -- Introduction -- The Regress of Maximization -- Blunt-Rationality, Self-sufficiency and Excessive Costs -- Satisficing Rationality -- The Inadequacy of Satisficing Rationality -- A Third View of Rationality -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 6 The Loyal Agent's Argument -- Introduction -- The Argument -- The Second Premise -- Corporate Principals -- The First Premise -- Conclusion -- 7 Moral Responsibility in Business, or Fourteen Unsuccessful Ways to Pass the Buck -- Introduction -- Complementary versus Contrary Terms -- Social versus Moral Responsibilities -- Moral Maxims Versus Moral Theories -- Arguments and Replies -- 8 A Case for a Progressive Annual Net Wealth Tax -- Introduction -- Taxation -- Distributions of Wealth and Income -- Outline of the Proposed Tax -- Arguments for a Net Wealth Tax -- Replies to Arguments Against a Net Wealth Tax -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 9 Militarism and the Quality of Life -- Introduction
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The focus of this volume is on the further development of the Quality of Life Theory and the means to measure the concept. The volume summarizes Michalos' fundamental assumptions about the nature of quality of life or human well-being and explains in detail the two variable theory of the quality of life. It gives an update of the journal Social Indicators Research after forty years, an explanation of the role of community indicators in connecting communities, and a critical review of the much publicized Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi report. It deals with the multiple discrepancies theory (MDT), the empirical theory designed to provide the foundation of the pragmatic theory of value. Other concepts discussed in this volume are the stability, sensitivity, and other different features of measures of domain and life satisfaction and happiness, measures of arts-related activities and beliefs, measures of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour concerning sustainable development, and the role of quality of life in sustainable development research. The volume concludes with discussions on connections between social indicators and communities, aspects of community quality of life in Prince George, British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta, and British Columbians' expectations and attitudes going into the third millennium
This volume connects aspects of personal health, overall well-being, and education to quality of life. It includes discussions of Galen's and Harvey's views of the movement of blood in human bodies, and differences in the research traditions of social indicators research and health-related quality of life research. It examines determinants of health and quality of life in a variety of populations, including the residents of the Bella Coola Valley of British Columbia, aboriginal residential school survivors in Canada, and diabetics versus non-diabetics. It describes relations between health survey and patients' medical chart reviews, the health and quality of life of older people, and the difference between good health and a good life. Other topics explored are student quality of life, comparisons of the quality of life of students, aboriginal and unemployed people, the impact of education on happiness and well-being, and liberal education. In addition, the volume presents Einstein's views of ethics and science, and unacknowledged authorship in scholarly publications. The final chapter gives a historical review of quality of life research in Canada over the past fifty years.
Intro -- Other Books by Alex C. Michalos -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Overview of the "The Selected Works of Alex C. Michalos" -- Introduction to "Selected Works of Alex C. Michalos" -- Biographical Notes -- Comments on the Articles -- ReferencesBraybrooke, D. (1987). Meeting needs. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Carnap, R. (1950). Logical foundations of probability. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Dewey, J. (1939). Theory of valuation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Keyfitz, N. (2003). Nathan Keyfitz on Mr. Somerville and others. In A. C. Michalos (Ed.). The best teacher I ever had: Personal reports from highly productive scholars (pp. 126-131). London, Ontario: Althouse Press.Lewis, C. I. (1946). An ana -- 1 Alex C. Michalos: Pioneer of Quality of Life and Social Indicators Research -- 2 Interview by Dan Weijers -- What Got You Interested in Wellbeing Research? -- What Do You Take "Wellbeing" to Mean? -- Why Is Wellbeing Research Important? -- What Is the Most Important Wellbeing-Related Finding from Your Research? -- What Are You Working on Right Now? -- What Do You Think the Next Big Thing in Wellbeing Research Will Be? -- What Are the Main Benefits of Interdisciplinary Research on Wellbeing? -- What Would the Ideal Census Question on Wellbeing Be and Why? -- What Parts of Your Research Have Brought You the Most Enjoyment and/or Satisfaction? -- What Parts of Your Research Have Brought You the Most Dissatisfaction and/or Displeasure? -- Is There Anything Else You Would like to Comment on? -- References -- 3 The Best Teacher I Ever Had Was … J. Coert Rylaarsdam -- 4 The Case for Atheism -- Introductory Comments -- The General Argument -- Examples of a Creation at War with Itself -- Summary of the Last 7 Arguments -- 5 Logic, Philosophy of Science and the Quality of Life -- Introduction -- Logical Foundations.
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"This monograph describes the contributions to our current understanding of quality of life made by the most important ancient philosophers in the Western Tradition. It does so from the point of view of a contemporary researcher in quality of life or human well-being. Revisiting ancient texts from about 600 BCE to 300 BCE, the book explores the earliest ideas in recorded western philosophical and scientific history that were significantly related to current research and understanding of the quality of life or well-being for individuals and communities. It examines the problems and solutions found in these texts and their connection to still current fundamental issues and questions such as: 'What is a good life?', 'What is the best sort of person to be?' 'How can one tell if one's society is making progress to some sort of desirable state or falling backwards?' The book shows that across time and across many cultures, the human species bears some remarkable similarities."--Publisher's description
Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement was founded by Alex C. Michalos and published its first issue in March 1974. It has been the leading journal for scholarly research in its field for over thirty years. This volume is published in celebration of that record of accomplishment. The 19 articles assembled here are a selection drawn from the 34 (2.4%) most frequently cited articles in the journal's history. An introductory essay written by Michalos explains the historical and scientific importance of each article in the development of social indicators or quality-of-life research. It provides a rare overview of the perceived scientific problems that researchers around the world addressed in the first three decades of exploration, as well as a view of some of the problems to be addressed in the future. A short essay describing the origins of the journal by its founder is also included. Anyone interested in having a single volume that contains some of the best research produced in this field will find this volume irresistible.
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