Abstract
What is sought is a definition of Quality of Life (QOL). Other authors have defined QOL in terms of actual happiness or perceived satisfaction/dissatisfaction. The present paper defines it not as a summation of the individual happiness-states of all members of a society, but as the obtaining of the necessary conditions for happiness throughout a society. These conditions being necessary not sufficient, high QOL is compatible with actual unhappiness. The necessary conditions in question are identified with the availability of means for the satisfaction of human needs rather than human desires, and a Maslowian analysis of the former is proposed in default of any more satisfactory analysis. The paper concludes with a discussion of how maximizing need-satisfaction (as opposed to want-satisfaction) automatically guarantees fair distribution of needed goods. This ensures that in at least some respects high-QOL societies are societies characterized by justice.
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© 2005 Springer
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Mccall, S. (2005). Quality of Life. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Citation Classics from Social Indicators Research. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 26. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3742-2_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3742-2_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3722-1
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