What Makes Life Good: Preference Theory and Objective List Theory

What Makes Life Good: Preference Theory and Objective List Theory
Student Full Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Full Title
Instructor Full Name
Due Date
Ethics Short Essay 1
The objective list theory is founded on the idea that a plurality of fundamental objective goods is of immediate advantage to people. This list could include such universal goods as meaningful knowledge, achievement, loving relationships, pleasure, autonomy, and etcetera. The objective list theory is pluralistic and does not specify any essential characteristic shared by this list of goods. It is also objective in that the fundamental goods benefit people irrespective of their responsive attitudes toward them. On the other hand, the preference theory supposes that what is good is what the individual desires most for himself or herself. This theory is founded on the belief that some individuals do not regard their well-being as the only aspect of their sound, and therefore, what is good is that which they esteem the most. For instance, "if a person cares more about being famous, even posthumously famous, than about being happy, then a preference theory would accord fame a proportionate weight in the identification of her self-interest" (Shafer-Landau, 2020).
The fundamental difference between the objective list theory and the preference theory is that the former proposes a list of universal goods that are free of or before an individual's desires and influence the perceived quality of the individual's experience. In contrast, the latter proposes that those subjective goods that are desired most by an individual are what constitutes a meaningful life. Overall, the objective list theory suggests a list of goods that are widely believed to bring personal good and meaning to a person's life (such as essential knowledge, achievement, loving relationships, pleasure, autonomy, etcetera). In contrast, the preference theory suggests that what is good is subjective and specific to what a person desires most for himself or herself.
Brad Hooker explores what he perceives to be the most credible form of an objective list view. He argues that some aspects of personal good are non-instrumentally important and make a significant improvement to an individual's well-being, irrespective of other benefits in the person’s life that they may happen to produce. These elements are good in their own right and are not good just because they are a means to an end or other goods. Hooker uses two ways ...