《《eScholarship UC item 216255vs》.pdfVIP

Kadish Center for Morality, Law, and Public Affairs UC Berkeley Title: “The Problem of Well-Being: Respect, Equality, and the Self” Author: Railton, Peter, University of Michigan Publication Date: 08-08-2008 Series: ISUS-X, Tenth Conference of the International Society for Utilitarian Studies Publication Info: ISUS-X, Tenth Conference of the International Society for Utilitarian Studies, Kadish Center for Morality, Law and Public Affairs, UC Berkeley Permalink: /uc/item/216255vs eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. “The Problem of Well-Being: Respect, Equality, and the Self” by Peter Railton Introduction I will argue that we humans are built for inequality. Inequality across individuals, to be sure. We are descended from social apes for whom group membership, group exclusion, and social hierarchy are fundamental facts of life. But in an especially deep sense, I want to suggest, we are built for inequality across time. Some puzzles about well-being—at least, the sort of well-being that appears to matter to people when asked about their current feelings or overall satisfaction with their lives—can be resolved in light of this profound fact about us. The upshot is, I believe, that some rethinking is needed in ethics about both equality and well-being. Better understanding the sources of our motives