Summary

Asking the right question can trump looking for the right answer. What do we mean by ‘society improving its well-being’? Do we really mean to attribute agency primarily to society, and thereby subordinate individuals as mere epiphenomena? Who, as it turns out, begot whom? This first conception of the problem, as it happens, underlies the vast majority of social initiatives, that attempt to change the world from outside in. I outline a different prospective; improvements in society proceed from improvements in individual selves. Paradoxically, it is when we focus our energy inwards that we inspire the greatest change.