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Abstract
The paper compares two prominent approaches to assessing Human Well-Being, the Capability Approach and the Subjective Well-Being Approach. It investigates the differences and the similarities between these approaches. An argument is made for exploring the potential synergies between them. Finally, the papers of this special edition are briefly introduced.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to Alois Stutzer and Des Gasper for their helpful comments. I have benefitted from discussions about this topic with Peter Dawe, Izete Bagolin and Miriam Teschl as part of a reading group series on Capabilities and Happiness held at St Edmund's College, Cambridge during the academic year 2003 – 2004.
Notes
1 Nussbaum (Citation2000: 138) recognises that sometimes adaptation can be a ‘good thing’, in particular when people give up holding ‘unrealistic aspirations’. However, this does not represent the general attitude towards ‘adaptation’ commonly found in the CA literature.
2 However, important differences remain between Rawls contractarian doctrine and the structure imposed by a utilitarian theory, as he acknowledges (1971: 565).