Virtue, Happiness, and Well-Being

What is the relation between virtue and well-being? Our claim is that, under certain conditions, virtue necessarily tends to have a positive impact on an individual's wellbeing. This is so because of the connection between virtue and psychological happiness, on the one hand, and between psychological happiness and well-being, on the other hand. In particular we defend three claims: that virtue is constituted by a disposition to experience fitting emotions, that fitting emotions are constituents of fitting happiness, and that fitting happiness is a constituent of well-being. What follows is that, under certain conditions, virtue disposes the individual to experience well-being-constituting states. We end with a discussion of two objections that may be raised against our proposal.