Review of William Lauinger's Well-Being and Theism: Linking Ethics to God

Authors

  • Amy Robertson Searfoss Department of Religious Studies Victoria University of Wellington

Keywords:

wellbeing, pro-attitude, objectivist, desire-perfection, evolution, metaphysical

Abstract

William Lauinger’s Well-Being and Theism is a thought-provoking study of human welfare that attempts to link human wellbeing to God.  In arguments aimed toward philosophers of wellbeing, Lauinger argues for a new theory of wellbeing, desire-perfection theory, intended to overcome inadequacies within objectivist and pro-attitude theories of wellbeing.  Though in the first half Lauinger provides compelling and insightful commentary about the shortcomings of objectivist and pro-attitude theories of wellbeing, he begins to waver in the second half when he seeks to establish metaphysical grounding for his desire-perfection theory of wellbeing.  While throughout the book Lauinger presents a well-argued case, his conclusion that human wellbeing must be linked to God is not necessarily supported.

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Author Biography

Amy Robertson Searfoss, Department of Religious Studies Victoria University of Wellington

Amy is in the process of completing her PhD in Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington.  She holds an MPhil in Nordic, Viking and Medieval Culture from the University of Oslo, Norway.  Her current research interests include tattooing and culture and the cognitive study of religion.

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Published

2013-10-07

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Book Reviews

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