How does one go about living the best possible life?
Today, this question remains as simple as it was when Greek philosophers asked it more than 2,000 years ago — but answering it has become more and more complex.
Although philosophers still do not have a straightforward answer, how we think about the question’s central issue — namely, well-being — influences the way we think about taxes, drug use, health care, and even the process of deciding whether or not to buy that new flat-screen TV.
The issue of well-being “has always been there,” said Jason Raibley, a Cal State Long Beach philosophy professor.
But the breadth of the issue has grown to incorporate the fields of psychology, neuroscience and economics, as well as ethical and social philosophy.
Beginning today, a group of graduate students and professors from around the world will engage in a three-day, on-campus conference to discuss their independent research projects that relate to the study of well-being.
The ultimate aim of these investigations, Raibley said, is to gain better perspective on “how societal institutions should be arranged.”
Complicating this process is the fact that no absolute way of measuring well-being exists.
For the first half of the 20th century, national economic factors were widely used to measure the well-being of its citizens, according to Raibley. But subsequent studies showed that, while this method of measurement works with a number of countries, there are many exceptions to the rule.
Since then, the field relies more on personal-life satisfaction surveys, and focuses increasingly more on the mechanics of personal behavior.
Psychologists and neuroscientists conduct research to shed light on the complexity of how, at a base level, humans experience emotions like pleasure, happiness and excitement, and how they report on these emotions in self-reports.
Behavioral economists use these studies to gain insight into “the process of human decision-making as it really goes” and to develop “better models of human motivation,” Raibley said.
Social philosophers, Raibley said, have to consider the implications of these studies while evaluating whether or not “we have some kind of mistaken priorities as a culture in regard to what we consider as important.”
All of these approaches will be represented at the conference, which will be coordinated by Raibley and fellow professor Teresa Chandler — both co-directors of the CSULB Center for Ethics — along with the CSULB Cognitive Neuroscience Group.
The conference begins each day in the Karl Anatol Center at 10:30 a.m. and lasts through Saturday.
For a schedule of events and more information, visit the website for CSULB’s Center for Applied Ethics at http://www.csulb.edu/depts/philosophy/appliedethics.html
