THE SHAPE OF A LIFE AND DESIRE SATISFACTION BY DONALD W. BRUCKNER Abstract: It is widely accepted by philosophers of well-being that the shape or narrative structure of a life is a significant determinant of its overall welfare value. Most arguments for this thesis posit agent-independent value in certain life shapes. The desire theory of well-being, I argue, has all of the resources needed to account for the value that many philosophers have identified in lives with cer- tain shapes. The theory denies that there is any agent-independent value in shapes and, indeed, allows that there can be both agent-dependent value and agent-de- pendent disvalue in the shapes commonly claimed to hold agent-independent value. 1. Introductory 1.1. THE SHAPE OF A LIFE CLAIM Lives manifest a variety of shapes and display a multitude of narrative or structural features. Some lives start off well and end badly. Others have the opposite shape. Some lives are stories of struggle and perseverance followed by great successes. Other lives have the same shape and distribution of momentary well-being, but feature undeserved windfalls rather than suc- cesses. Some lives are lived on an even keel, while others go through high peaks and low valleys. Some lives are internally coherent and made up of ep- isodes that have an easily-narrated arc. Other lives are made up of disjointed episodes that do not form a narratable unity. It is widely accepted by philosophers of well-being that the shape of a life, and its narrative or structural features, are significant determinants of the Pacific Philosophical Quarterly •• (2018) ••–•• DOI: 10.1111/papq.12240 © 2018 The Author Pacific Philosophical Quarterly © 2018 University of Southern California and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1