| Life satisfaction admits of many definitions, so that any critique is liable to meet objections that what it addresses isn't “really” life satisfaction. We must begin, then, by identifying the target notion and considering why this is the right target. As a first approximation we may define life satisfaction as having a favorable attitude toward one's life as a whole. Opinions vary about the precise nature of this attitude, but typically it is seen as somehow embodying a global judgment about one's life taken as a whole: that, all things considered, one's life is satisfactory. Central to life for Sumner, for instance, is “a positive evaluation of the conditions of your life, a judgment that, at least on balance, it measures up favorably against your standards or expectations.” |