Philosophical Foundations of Quality of Life

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxxii

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2. Alex C. Michalos: Pioneer of Quality of Life and Social Indicators Research

   • Bruno D. Zumbo

   Pages 1-3

3. Interview by Dan Weijers

   • Dan Weijers

   Pages 5-11

4. The Best Teacher I Ever Had Was … J. Coert Rylaarsdam

   • Alex C. Michalos

   Pages 13-15

5. The Case for Atheism

   • Alex C. Michalos

   Pages 17-24

6. Logic, Philosophy of Science and the Quality of Life

   • Alex C. Michalos

   Pages 25-65

7. Philosophy of Social Science

   • Alex C. Michalos

   Pages 67-95

8. Postulates of Rational Preference

   • Alex C. Michalos

   Pages 97-101

9. Decision-Making in Committees

   • Alex C. Michalos

   Pages 103-130

10. Analytic and Other “DUMB” Guides of Life

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 131-133

11. The Morality of Cognitive Decision-Making [Ethics of Belief]

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 135-149

12. Meeting Current Needs

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 151-158

13. A Reconsideration of the Idea of a Science Court

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 159-176

14. Technology Assessment, Facts and Values

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 177-196

15. A Pragmatic Theory of Value

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 197-227

16. Creating a Culture of Support for the Social Sciences: Lessons from the First Forty Years of the Social Science Federation of Canada

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 229-289

17. Notes for a System of Scientific Research Reports Accounts

    • Alex C. Michalos

    Pages 291-297

18. Back Matter

    Pages 299-305

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This first volume has as its main focus the philosophical foundations of Michalos’ work and describes it in the broad context of the study of logic, the philosophy of social sciences, and a general theory of value. After distinguishing things that have value from the value that things might have, it describes the foundations of a pragmatic theory of value. This theory plays a key role in the author’s research on the quality of life and connects his empirical research to the philosophical tradition of the American pragmatists William James, Ralph Barton Perry, John Dewey and Clarence Irving Lewis. The volume addresses various aspects and issues concerning decision making, including decision procedures used in committees, used for assessing the acceptability of scientific theories and new technologies, procedures for a science court, ethical issues involved in the formation of beliefs, some limitations of classical economists’ alleged postulates of rational preference, and the importanceof analytic guides to decision making. Finally, it describes the organization of the Social Sciences Federation of Canada and a formal accounting system for scientific research.

• Philosophy of Science and Quality of Life
• Logic and Quality of Life
• Philosophy and Technology
• Morality of Cognitive Decision-Making
• Decision-Making in Committtees
• Social Sciences and Cultural Support
• Philosophical Foundations of Alex Michalos
• Study of Logic
• Decision-Making Theory
• Decision Procedures Used in Committees
• Scientific Theories and New Technologies
• Procedures for A Science Court
• Ethical Issues in the Formation of Beliefs
• Social Sciences Federation of Canada

• University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada

  Alex C. Michalos

Prof. Alex Michalos currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Brandon University. He is also the Director of Research for the Canadian Index of Wellbeing and Emeritus Professor in Political Science at his former institution, the University of Northern British Columbia. Michalos has published 24 books, over 100 refereed articles, and founded or co-founded seven scholarly journals. Among the seven, he is Editor in Chief for the Journal of Business Ethics, the most frequently cited journal in the world devoted to business ethics, and Social Indicators Research, the first scholarly journal devoted to quality of life research. He is married to Dr. Deborah Poff, President and Vice-Chancellor of Brandon University.

Policies and ethics