Well-being as being well—a Heideggerian look at well-being

Abstract

The background of this study was a critique of definitions of well-being and quality of life since they implied a view of human beings as either divided into parts or were too narrowly focusing on the subjective experience of feeling good. The aim was to deepen the understanding of human well-being by exploring the concept from the viewpoint of human being. The method can be characterized as philosophical, since it dealt with questions on the ontological level. The strategy was based on Heidegger's philosophy of Being, which has previously been utilized as a basis for qualitative methodology in health and caring research. The landscape of well-being sketched out from this viewpoint included being well as the everyday unfolding of life, as alternating between a sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity in the world, between authentic and unauthentic. The landscape also included being well as orientating towards the future and realizing one's potentialities as well as confronting anxiety and death. This view can be used as an ontological understanding, which can indirectly point out a strategy for a scientific understanding and conceptualization of human well-being.