S3 Ep 3 - Anna Alexandrova on 'Philosophy of Well-Being Science'

The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science

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1y ago 28:17

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Today's episode features Professor Anna Alexandrova from the University of Cambridge discussing a field she has pioneered - the Philosophy of Well-Being Science.
As Anna points out, well-being and happiness are now established phenomena for scientific research, particularly in the disciplines of psychology and economics. But does current scientific research produce knowledge that is properly about well-being? What kind of well-being? Should the goal be a single concept and single theory of well-being?

Anna persuasively argues that a ‘one-concept-or-one-theory-fits-all’ attitude is wrong-headed.
Instead, Anna suggests researchers should invest in tailoring the concept of ‘well-being’ for specific people in specific contexts. Furthermore, we must take into consideration the components of well-being, or better put – of human flourishing - that are meaningful to the people within those groups.
Relevant links for Anna:

Profile - Anna Alexandrova | HPS | University of Cambridge
Book - A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
Current work - The Many Dimensions of Wellbeing - Bennett Institute for Public Policy
Media - Interviews and popular writings

The transcript for this episode can be found at: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/s3-ep3-anna-alexandrova-transcript

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