Abstract: This chapter, the first of two on utilitarian accounts of well-being, discusses mental-state accounts, actual-desire accounts, and informed-desire accounts. It also discusses our attractive compromise position adopted by Henry Sidgwick. It considers whether there is a position between mental state and desire accounts, and what the problems facing the informed-desire account are.

Keywords: actual desire, informed desire, mental state, Henry Sidgwick, utilitarianism,