This paper is based on a research project ‘‘Research on the Well-being of Nations’’ supported by a grant (no. 955908) from the ‘‘Project of Promoting Academic Excellence & Developing World Class Research Centers,’’ of the National Central University in 2006. Portions of it were presented at the International Symposium on the Well-being of Nations—A Cross-cultural Dialogue organized by the Graduate Institute of Philosophy, National Central University in Taiwan on November 5–6, 2006. I am especially indebted to Professor Alex Michalos for his generosity and support in providing valuable advice and guidance on well-being research. This paper has also benefited from his thorough comments and useful suggestions. I thank the anonymous reviewers’ comments and advices for improvement. I thank Professor Robert Cummins for detailed and valuable comments that have forced me to think more deeply on many issues. I also thank Ho-Sum Ko for his useful comments and Professor Ruut Veenhoven for reading the paper. All mistakes and failings of this paper are mine. I thank my assistant Liu Shih Ching for assistant