“What makes a life good for the person who lives it?” Answers will vary depending on whether the question is asked from the point of view of the individual, the policy-maker, or from the standpoint of morality. This paper contends that desire theories of the good, while amenable to economic and policy analysis, should be rejected as the appropriate account of well-being for individuals and also for moral argument. For the latter, an alternative, substantive theory of good is proposed that makes claims about what things, conditions, and opportunities make life better.
