What happens when things go wrong? Critically examining the concept of well-being and its implications for disability policy and practice

Please enter a brief summary or abstract up to 300 words Liberal philosophers have often argued that an individual's capacity for agency, leading to the accomplishment of goals defined by the agent and others as valuable, gauges how well a life is going, and is therefore integral to promoting personal well-being - see, for example, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, James Griffin, Leonard Sumner, and Joseph Raz,[1]. However, a different account of well-being can also be found in liberal political philosophy, which is more hidden, emphasising the importance of self-acceptance. The notion of self-acceptance is identified in: Mill's affirmation of a person's own “mode of existence” when promoting individuality Rawls's 'primary good' of self-respect assuming a “certain completeness” in human achievement despite individual impediments and resource limitations The temporal and physical restrictions of human subjectivity in experiencing well-being, variously highlighted by Griffin and Sumner And in the circumscribed role of personal accomplishment and rational reflection in making judgments about individual success and worthwhile aims, emphasised by Raz. [1] For example, Mill, John Stuart. 1991. On Liberty and Other Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press, especially pp. 62-82; Rawls, John. 1973. A Theory of Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, especially pp. 548-54; Griffin, James. 1988. Well-Being: Its Meaning, Measurement, and Moral Importance. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Sumner, Leonard W. 1999. Welfare, Happiness and Ethics. Oxford: Clarendon Press; Raz, Joseph. 1988. The Morality of Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press, especially pp. 288-320.