Ethical and Social Scientific Perspectives on Well-being
March 5-7th 2009 • The Anatol Center, CSULB

Co-sponsored by The College of Liberal Arts, The Center for the Advancement of Philosophy in the Public Schools,
 The Center for Applied Ethics, The Cognitive Science Group,
the Department of Philosophy, and the Department of Psychology

The past thirty years have witnessed an explosion of theoretical and empirical research on the nature of personal well-being and related cognitive and affective states (self-assessment, desire, pleasure, happiness, and other positive and negative emotions). In philosophy, ethicists propose increasingly nuanced accounts of both happiness and human well-being, while social philosophers discuss ways of structuring institutions to better promote aggregate well-being. Economists likewise develop hypotheses about how best to structure institutions and incentives to promote aggregate well-being, as they seek valid ways to measure it. In psychology, active research programs explore the components, measurement, and promotion of subjective well-being, while cognitive neuroscientists explore its biological and neurological bases.

This conference seeks to bring together a diverse set of scholars, including ethicists, social philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, and economists ranging from graduate students to full professors in order to facilitate a productive and much-needed exchange of ideas. Ideally, participants will gain greater insight into the fundamental questions, methodologies, and results of one another's separate research programs, allowing each participant to better evaluate the implications of one another's research for their own work as well as for social policy.