Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts
Major
Philosophy
Date of Defense
4-14-2026
Graduate Advisor
Eric Wiland
Committee
Andrew Black
Jill Delston
Abstract
Human well-being has been a topic of interest to philosophers at least since the time of Aristotle, and well-being has also been a core concern of social scientists since the birth of the discipline in the late 18th century. Some theories of well-being include economic inequality as a factor, and multiple ways to measure this factor have been developed; as with well-being, there is no single best measure of economic inequality and the choice of which measure to use may be based on both theoretical and practical reasons. I argue that income inequality should always be included as a factor when studying societal well-being in rich countries, because high levels of inequality have been repeatedly shown to have a negative relationship with well-being.
Recommended Citation
Boslaugh, Sarah E., "Inequality and Well-Being" (2026). Theses. 503.
https://irl.umsl.edu/thesis/503
Included in
Applied Ethics Commons, Economic History Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Growth and Development Commons, Income Distribution Commons, Political Economy Commons