Constituting the most advanced and comprehensive treatment of one of the cardinal issues in social theory, a diverse group of social scientists address the problems, principles and practices involved in comparing the well-being of different individuals.

This 2006 book shows through accessible argument and numerous examples how understanding moral philosophy can improve economic analysis, how moral philosophy can benefit from economists' analytical tools, and how economic analysis and moral philosophy together can inform public policy. Part I explores rationality and its connections to morality. It argues that in defending their model of rationality, mainstream economists implicitly espouse contestable moral principles. Part II concerns welfare, utilitarianism and standard welfare economics, while Part III considers important moral notions that are left out of standard welfare economics, such as freedom, rights, equality, and justice. Part III also emphasizes the variety of moral considerations that are relevant to evaluating policies. Part IV then introduces technical work in social choice theory and game theory that is guided by ethical concepts and relevant to moral theorizing. Chapters include recommended readings and the book includes a glossary of relevant terms.

Subjective accounts of well-being and reasons for action have a remarkable pedigree. The idea that normativity flows from what an agent cares about-that something is valuable because it is valued-has appealed to a wide range of great thinkers. But at the same time this idea has seemed to many of the best minds in ethics to be outrageous or worse, not least because it seems to threaten the status of morality. Mutual incomprehension looms over the discussion. From Valuing to Value, written by an influential former critic of subjectivism, owns up to the problematic features to which critics have pointed while arguing that such criticisms can be blunted and the overall view rendered defensible. In this collection of his essays David Sobel does not shrink from acknowledging the real tension between subjective views of reasons and morality, yet argues that such a tension does not undermine subjectivism. In this volume the fundamental commitments of subjectivism are clarified and revealed to be rather plausible and well-motivated, while the most influential criticisms of subjectivism are straightforwardly addressed and found wanting.

In this book, the authors reconceptualize cost-benefit analysis, arguing that its objective should be overall well-being rather than economic efficiency. This book not only places cost-benefit analysis on a firmer theoretical foundation, but also has many practical implications for how government agencies should undertake cost-benefit studies.

This book explores how different ideas of the common good may be compared, contrasted and ranked.

Far from recommending cruel acts, utilitarianism, understood this way, actually runs congruent to our basic moral intuitions.

The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Medicine is a comprehensive guide to topics in the fields of epistemology and metaphysics of medicine. It examines traditional topics such as the concept of disease, causality in medicine, the epistemology of the randomized controlled trial, the biopsychosocial model, explanation, clinical judgment and phenomenology of medicine and emerging topics, such as philosophy of epidemiology, measuring harms, the concept of disability, nursing perspectives, race and gender, the metaphysics of Chinese medicine, and narrative medicine. Each of the 48 chapters is written especially for this volume and with a student audience in mind. For pedagogy and clarity, each chapter contains an extended example illustrating the ideas discussed. This text is intended for use as a reference for students in courses in philosophy of medicine and philosophy of science, and pairs well with The Routledge Companion to Bioethics for use in medical humanities and social science courses.

The book covers the research on economic inequality, including the social construction of racial categories, the uneven and stalled gender revolution, and the role of new educational forms and institutions in generating both equality and inequality.

Applied ethics is a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions specific to a professional, disciplinary, or practical field. There is ample literature available on ethics but there is scarcity of literature as how to apply the principles of ethics in solving the problems of contemporary world. The main objective of the book is how to apply principles and theories of ethics in day-to-day life in our ordinary business of life. There are numerous dimensions of ethics but it is not possible to discuss all of them. Some important subsets of applied ethics are discussed in the book. First, what are the principles of ethics and how ethics is associated with religion, law, science and technology? Second, the present world is facing grave issues such as climate change, population explosion, Corruption and violence, globalisation problems etc. How these issues can be resolved ethically. Third, all the countries of the world are engaged in rapid economic development of their economies. How this can be done ethically. The main aim behind this book is that the Individuals, Societies, Corporations, Countries and the entire world should be run on ethical lines. This alone will endure happiness and well-being of all.

These Guidelines represent the first attempt to provide international recommendations on collecting, publishing, and analysing subjective well-being data.