Freedom and the Pursuit of Happiness
An Economic and Political Perspective

This book is about the relationship between different concepts of freedom and happiness, with implications for public policy.

Sebastiano Bavetta (Author), Pietro Navarra (Author), Dario Maimone (Author)

9781107037731, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 October 2014

253 pages, 99 b/w illus. 34 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

'An important and fascinating book that addresses fundamental questions in political philosophy with the rigor and empirical relevance of modern economics. It should be on the shelves of any social scientist who wants to fully understand how political and economic institutions contribute to individual well-being.' Guido Tabellini, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan

This book is about the relationship between different concepts of freedom and happiness. The book's authors distinguish three concepts for which an empirical measure exists: opportunity to choose (negative freedom), capability to choose (positive freedom), and autonomy to choose (autonomy freedom). They also provide a comprehensive account of the relationship between freedom and well-being by comparing channels through which freedoms affect quality of life. The book also explores whether the different conceptions of freedom complement or replace each other in the determination of the level of well-being. In so doing, the authors make freedoms a tool for policy making and are able to say which conception is the most effective for well-being, as circumstances change. The results have implications for a justification of a free society: maximizing freedoms is good for its favorable consequences upon individual well-being, a fundamental value for the judgment of human advantage.

1. Introduction
2. Individual well-being: theory and measurement
3. Autonomy freedom and individual well-being
4. Capability and individual well-being
5. Economic freedom, political freedom and individual well-being
6. Autonomy and negative freedom
7. Autonomy and capability
8. Autonomy, limited government, capability, and happiness
9. Normative consequences of the pursuit of happiness.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Economics [KC], Psychology [JM], Sociology [JHB], Social & political philosophy [HPS]