The Power of Belief: Cognitive Resonance, Objectivism, and Well-being

The phenomenon of resonance is central in the contemporary literature on well-being. Many philosophers accept the Resonance Constraint: if something is good for a person, it must resonate with her. Failing to meet this constraint is often thought to be a forceful blow to a theory of well-being. It i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bruno-Niño, Teresa (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2023
In: Ethical theory and moral practice
Year: 2023, Volume: 26, Issue: 1, Pages: 37-52
Further subjects:B Well-being
B Beliefs
B Alienation
B Resonance
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:The phenomenon of resonance is central in the contemporary literature on well-being. Many philosophers accept the Resonance Constraint: if something is good for a person, it must resonate with her. Failing to meet this constraint is often thought to be a forceful blow to a theory of well-being. It is widely assumed that resonance must be motivational. I call attention to and argue for an underexplored aspect of resonance, namely cognitive resonance. I provide arguments for Belief-Resonance, the claim that if a person believes that something is good for her, it resonates with her. The Resonance Constraint allegedly favors subjectivism. I argue that there are facts about people’s well-being and that someone who is fully informed and reasons well would come to have true beliefs about her well-being. Based on these arguments, I formulate and defend a novel strategy for objectivists to respond to alienation objections. I conclude that objectivism is as well equipped to deal with alienation problems as prominent subjectivist views that appeal to idealization.
ISSN:1572-8447
Contains:Enthalten in: Ethical theory and moral practice
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10677-022-10346-0