Betterness
Betterness is the quality or state of being better, typically used to compare two or more states, options, or outcomes according to a defined standard or baseline. The term, formed from the adjective better plus the suffix -ness, is used across philosophy, economics, political theory, and everyday discourse to denote normative improvement.
In ethics and related fields, betterness is not a single universal measure. It depends on the normative
Measurement of betterness involves indicators such as health, income, education, capabilities, happiness, and freedom. In welfare
In decision theory and artificial intelligence, betterness is often formalized as an objective or utility function
Critiques note that betterness is inherently evaluative and contestable, subject to baselines, weighting of criteria, and