Elsevier, Societal Impacts, 2025, 100114This article outlines a theory of goodness, coupled with some of its practical implications for impact-making, governance and lives more generally. The theory proposes that goodness consists of positive feelings and whatever promotes them, such as the joy of a meaningful conversation or the satisfaction of eating food, for instance. Although it is a version of ethical hedonism, the theory is also called welfarism since it allocates a central role to affect and since affect is central to some prevalent measures of 'subjective wellbeing'.
