This paper reviews traditional understanding of well-being from both Western and Eastern cultural perspectives. First, two distinct Western traditions in defining well-being are compared, namely hedonic and eudaemonic...This paper reviews traditional understanding of well-being from both Western and Eastern cultural perspectives. First, two distinct Western traditions in defining well-being are compared, namely hedonic and eudaemonic approaches. The hedonic approach defines happiness as the maximization of pleasure, while the eudaemonic approach regards happiness as the fulfillment of a person’s natural needs and overall flourishing. Second, the views of well-being in lens of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the East are reviewed. The common and different understandings of well-being between Western and Eastern traditions are discussed as followed. Finally, two well-known operationalized definitions of well-being, that is subjective well-being and psychological well-being, proposed in the roots of Western traditions are elucidated.展开更多
基金supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant[number:2022M721836]The Breakout of“Involution”:A Study on the Academic Aspirations and Wellbeing of Undergraduate Students in Research Universities.
文摘This paper reviews traditional understanding of well-being from both Western and Eastern cultural perspectives. First, two distinct Western traditions in defining well-being are compared, namely hedonic and eudaemonic approaches. The hedonic approach defines happiness as the maximization of pleasure, while the eudaemonic approach regards happiness as the fulfillment of a person’s natural needs and overall flourishing. Second, the views of well-being in lens of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in the East are reviewed. The common and different understandings of well-being between Western and Eastern traditions are discussed as followed. Finally, two well-known operationalized definitions of well-being, that is subjective well-being and psychological well-being, proposed in the roots of Western traditions are elucidated.
