Announcements

Attention Wellbeing Researchers!
The International Journal of Wellbeing (IJW) is building up to launch and we are looking for peer reviewers and contributors. The IJW is an interdisciplinary academic journal that publishes research on wellbeing (broadly construed). You can find out more about the journal here.

We Need You for the International Wellbeing Survey!
The International Wellbeing Survey is the largest longitudinal survey on wellbeing. We need both philosophers and non-philosophers to take part. For more information please click here (if you are a philosopher) or here (if you are are not a philosopher).

Latest News

26 August 2010:
I have been invited to talk about 'The Problem with Happiness' to the Cafe Scientifique audience from 6:00-7:30pm at Wholly Bagels in Lower Hutt on the 30 September.

17 August 2010:
My Book review of Derek Bok's The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-Being has been published in Metapsychology Online today. Link

26 July 2010:
I have accepted an invitation to serve as a member of the Editorial Review Board for the International Journal of Technoethics, a quarterly journal which began publication in 2010. Link

More News:
See all the news from this website at the News Archive. Link

Biographical Information

Profile:
I have recently changed my name from Dan Turton to Dan Weijers. I am a PhD candidate and assistant lecturer in the Philosophy Department at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). My primary supervisor is Nick Agar and my secondary supervisor is Ramon Das.

Research Interests:
Mainly interdisciplinary research on wellbeing. Also a wide variety of topics in analytic philosophy, notably including: Wellbeing, Hedonism, Happiness, Moral Psychology, Philosophy of Psychology, Neuroethics, Bioethics, Normative Ethics, Applied Ethics, Business Ethics, Political Philosophy, and Metaphysics

Current Academic Roles:

Founding co-editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing. Link
Member of the editorial review board for the International Journal of Technoethics. Link
Peer-reviewer for Philosophical Frontiers. Link

Current Projects/Research:

Organising the first issue for the International Journal of Wellbeing - with Aaron Jarden and Nick Powdthavee
Researching for a paper on the ethics of cheating in sport with Nick Agar
Analysing my survey data for a paper on Nozick's Experience Machine
Writing a paper on the 'feels good' theory of pleasure
Writing a paper on the implications subjective wellbeing surveys should have for public policy
About to start writing an entry on hedonism for the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Helping Ramon Das to write a book on Ethics and International Affairs
Writing my PhD

PhD Topic:
My PhD (entitled Happiness, It's Meaning, Measurement and Moral Importance) examines various topics at the intersection of happiness and philosophy. Some chapters are purely theoretical but many are interdisciplinary, drawing on insights from neuroscience, psychology and other disciplines. A chapter outline follows:

Section 1: Pleasure and Happiness

Chapter 1: Scientific support for the feels good theory of pleasure
Chapter 2: Happiness as pleasure

Section 2: Hedonism and Wellbeing

Chapter 3: Methods in wellbeing
Chapter 4: Re-evaluating hedonism

Section 3: Happiness in Practice

Chapter 5: What are the implications of the science of happiness for policy-makers?
Chapter 6: Happiness and climate change
Chapter 7: Happiness and the meaning of life

Selected Publications:

Weijers, Dan, (forthcoming). The Experience Machine Objection to Hedonism, in Just the Arguments, Edited by Michael Bruce & Steven Barbone, Wiley-Blackwell. Link
Weijers, Dan, Eng, David & Das, Ramon (forthcoming). Sharing the Responsibility of Dealing with Climate Change: Interpreting the Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, in Public Policy: Why Ethics Matters, Edited by Jonathan Boston, Andrew Bradstock & David Eng, ANU E Press. Link
Weijers, Dan & Jarden, Aaron (forthcoming). The Problem with Happiness, The Philosopher's Magazine. Link
Turton, Dan (2009). The Real Dirt on Happiness Studies: A Reply to 'The Unhappy thing about Happiness Economics', Real-world Economics Review, 49: 83-89. Link

Contact

Email:
danweijers[at]gmail[dot]com

Phone:
+64-4-463-5233 ext. 8651

Address:
Dan Weijers
Philosophy Programme,
Victoria University of Wellington,
PO Box 600,
Wellington 6140,
New Zealand

Why Contact Me?
Please feel free to contact me. I'm more than happy to discuss philosophical and wellbeing-related matters with anyone.

Of particular interest to me is making contact with other wellbeing researchers. Especially for the following reasons:

- If you are interested in being a peer reviewer for or potential contributor to the International Journal of Wellbeing

- If you are an editor of a philosophy or wellbeing-related project looking for a contributor

- If you are interested in collaborating on theoretical, interdisciplinary, or empirical wellbeing research

- If you are a non-philosopher and want to discuss philosophical aspects of wellbeing

Are there any problems with this page?
Please let me know if there are!

email: danweijers[at]gmail[dot]com

key words: Dan Weijers, philosophy, wellbeing, well-being, happiness, expert, philosopher, happy, academic, Daniel Weijers, Dan M Weijers, Daniel Michael Weijers, Dan Turton, Daniel Turton, New Zealand

Dan Weijers