There are presently two approaches to the study of well-being. Philosophers typically focus on normative theorizing, attempting to identify the things that are ultimately good for a person, while largely ignoring empirical research. The idea is that empirical attention cannot be directed to the right place without a rigorous theory. Meanwhile, social scientists typically focus on empirical research, attempting to identify the causes and consequences of well-being, while largely ignoring normative theorizing. The idea is that conceptual and theoretical clarity will come with time and more data. This article argues that neither is a good approach to the study of well-being. The traditional philosophical approach underappreciates the vital importance of empirical investigation, whereas the atheoretical empirical approach underappreciates the vital importance of normative theorizing. The proposed solution is to bring these methods together. Well-being research should be interdisciplinary. The article proposes a “conceptual engineering” approach as a novel alternative. This approach involves an iterative process of normative theorizing, empirical investigation, and conceptual revision, with the aim of articulating concepts and theories of well-being that optimally suit particular interests and purposes.

目前有两种研究幸福感的方法。哲学家通常专注于规范化的理论化，试图找出对个人最终有益的事物，而很大程度上忽略了实证研究。这样的想法是，如果没有严格的理论，就不能将经验的注意力转移到正确的地方。同时，社会科学家通常专注于实证研究，试图找出幸福的原因和后果，而很大程度上忽略了规范性理论。这个想法是概念和理论上的清晰将随时间和更多数据一起出现。本文认为，这都不是研究幸福感的好方法。传统的哲学方法没有充分认识到实证研究的重要性，然而，理论上的经验方法却没有充分认识到规范理论的重要性。提出的解决方案是将这些方法结合在一起。幸福研究应该是跨学科的。本文提出了一种“概念工程”方法作为一种新颖的选择。这种方法涉及规范理论化，实证研究和概念修改的迭代过程，目的是阐明最适合特定兴趣和目的的幸福感的概念和理论。