Goal

We propose to use systematic accounts of philosophy to develop a conceptually coherent, distinct, and scientifically testable account of human flourishing. A distinct aim of producing such an account is to create tools for predicting and influencing a sense of flourishing, across a wide-range of human endeavours. As against other scientific disciplines (e.g., physics), the empirical behavioural sciences have insufficiently grounded their theoretical development in relevant philosophy; and we believe that the scientific understanding of human life, including flourishing, has suffered from this lacuna. We propose, therefore, to leverage the conceptual rigour of philosophy to better inform our ability to predict and influence, with precision, scope, and depth, concepts such as flourishing. Beginning to produce such a comprehensive account of this phenomenon would allow us to differentiate it from a wide range of related human experiences, ranging from vitality and 'the good life', to hollowness and despair. In so doing, we can more successfully create a path for generating interventions to promote flourishing, and related concepts, such as vitality, trust, and forgiveness.

Opportunity

Developing such a rigorous operational definition of flourishing can help us to develop a measure of this human experience that has robust construct validity. Importantly, achieving this aim can help us to establish a single, content valid operational definition of this construct, instead of the four principal ones that currently dominate the literature. We can facilitate this endeavour by positing and testing the theoretically established mechanisms by which we can enhance flourishing; and, thus, build a comprehensive set of tools to impact a wide range of human experiences related to flourishing, including health, happiness, connectedness, and a sense of purpose.

Roadblocks

1. There are a number of philosophical approaches that address concepts related to flourishing, but that use different ontologies and epistemologies (c.f., enlightenment and existential-phenomenological accounts). Thus, a core challenge is to gather these disparate understandings, so as to produce a robust, empirical, behavioural science of flourishing.
2. Flourishing, like most psychosocial phenomena, is not located merely in the individual. Rather, it is co-produced in conjunction with social situations and norms in which people actively live and participate.

Breakthroughs Needed

1. Given these two challenges, which empirical behavioural sciences have rarely sought to address, we would need to identify, co-ordinate, and develop shared understandings and methods, amongst a wide-range of colleagues from distinct disciplines. Only in this way, could we successfully delineate the scope of flourishing and so distinguish it from other, related constructs.
2. Additionally, a philosophically based empirical theory of flourishing would suggest mechanisms of change by which this phenomenon produced its effect. Identifying such mediators is essential in developing and testing different ways to enhance it, so that it has the greatest impact on the largest number of people. Furthermore, focusing on concepts, such as mediators of change, can help to focus the work and ideas of people from different disciplines and, thus, help to overcome the potential roadblock, noted above.

Key Indicators of Success

Yes' responses indicate success:
3 years: Did the exploratory and Grand Challenge produce an initial empirically testable psycho-social model that can potentially predict and influence flourishing with adequate precision, scope, and depth? Did these calls produce a practical tool to measure flourishing?
5 years: Did the grant calls identify interdisciplinary projects that could further enhance the precision, scope, and depth of how flourishing is conceptualised or measured? Did the Grand Challenges lead to practical tools or interventions to enhance flourishing?
10 years: Did the Grand Challenges establish a psychosocial model of flourishing that has increased flourishing at a community level?

Additional Information

As practice without theory is blind (Kant), the aim of the proposed idea is to develop a philosophically enriched psychosocial model of human flourishing that individuals can use to discover how to create a life that they, themselves, find vital and fulfilling, in their interconnected world. A core aim of the proposed idea is to ensure that this model of flourishing developed from this systematic research programme coheres across established scientific domains (depth), that the model's principles are applicable to a wide range of phenomena (scope), and that there is a high specificity with which its relevant variables are identified (precision). This is more than a theoretical concern, as accounts lacking precision and scope limit the degree to which models can be practically useful, and accounts lacking depth prevent the model from integrating with other domains of knowledge. Indeed, lacking depth may signify conceptual issues with a model.
It has recently been argued that psychological literature is pervaded by an a priori stance on the degree to which phenomena and perceptions should be deemed 'good', 'bad', 'desirable/undesirable' . In particular this issue has been highlighted with regard to the positive psychology literature . This is of note as the primary conceptualisations of flourishing within the psychological literature are enshrined within positive psychology. Given that many systems of philosophy take a more first-person perspective that do not determine a priori how an individual should relate to phenomena as inherently 'good' or 'bad', such accounts of how people relate to their experiences and their interpersonal world may greatly extend how psychology conceptualises and designs practical tools to enhance and measure flourishing.
Beyond addressing the operational and conceptual issues surrounding flourishing, the proposed idea would seek to obviate measurement issues that plague the field of psychology by controlling for largely (at least presently) immutable factors such as the Big-5 personality variables (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness) and general mental ability. This would help ensure that flourishing as represented by this psychosocial social model represented a measurably distinct construct for these unchangeable individual differences.

References:
https://www.internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/286
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9485-0
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1702996114
10.1057/palcomms.2016.18
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022167817739409

Collaborators:
Dr. Jonathan Dowling and Professor Frank Bond's (Goldsmiths, University of London) systematic research focuses on developing theoretically-driven approaches to helping people act in ways they find personally meaningful. Their work centres around constructs related to flourishing including psychological flexibility, deepening interpersonal connections, skilled interpersonal behaviour, charisma, quality of life, resilience, vitality, elite performance, and empathy.
Tomas Bjorkman is a co-founder and CEO of 29k, a non-profit technological platform that provides psychological and personal transformation that is free and accessible across the globe. We collaborate with 29k on an ongoing basis and their technological platform and the shared vision between our groups have already greatly enhanced the scalability and reach of our research outputs, enabling the practical psychological tools derived from our research to have maximal impact (Bond and Dowling).
We collaborators with psychologists, epidemiologists (e.g., University College London), space scientists (e.g., California Institute of Technology), and philosophers (e.g., Columbia University).