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Philosophical Quality of Life and Ethical Dimensions

Future Work On Quality Of Life

Reviewing each of these three philosophical approaches to quality of life, one can argue that the concept of quality of life should not be construed as a floor below which no significant societal expenditure of resources is required, and below which personal caregiving efforts may be reduced to the decent minimum. A much better way to think about quality of life is to see it as a ceiling, a potential level of functional capacity and capacity for relationship, toward which caregiving efforts should be designed to strive. The height of this ceiling will not be the same for everyone, and quality of life is not a test that you fail if you do not reach a certain height. But the important point is that quality of life should be used as a teleological concept—setting a goal to reach and a process to reach it, rather than as a prioritizing concept—setting a rank ordering for the allocation of scarce resources.

In conclusion, it is important to note that no one of these philosophical theories has completely carried the day among philosophers, and each of the three is still under development in the philosophical literature on quality of life. None of them offers a complete account; elements of all three are essential to cover the broad range of circumstances and individual needs pertinent to the issue of quality of life in an aging society.

BRUCE JENNINGS

See also DEATH AND DYING; DEFINITION AND MEASUREMENT; EUTHANSIA AND SENICIDE; QUALITY OF LIFE; REFUSING AND WITHDRAWING MEDICAL TREATMENT; SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Additional topics

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