Quality of Life, Health and Happiness

Quality of life is a popular modern subject. The term "quality of life" appears in many contexts, including in newspapers and TV-commercials, often as an argument for buying a certain product. It is now also common in serious discourses, including those on social and medical care. It is often described as a goal of the professional activity which is as important as the more objective-sounding welfare and health. It is important to ask if it is possible to define the concept of the quality of life of single individuals or of groups of people. Is it reasonable that quality of life should be considered the major goal of health and social care? This text is an attempt to draw these and related questions, which deal with the nature of quality of life and its significance in particular for medical care. It proposes and defends a theory of quality of life which has been inspired by classical and modern analyses of concepts such as happiness and welfare.