The Dual-Dimension of Quality of Life: A Philosophical Value Theory Approach to Reconstructing Health Engineering Goals

Health Engineering (HE) has significantly advanced objective health metrics, yet often overlooks the subjective, value-laden dimension of Quality of Life (QoL), creating a gap in achieving genuine human flourishing. This paper addresses this limitation by introducing a Dual-Dimension QoL Model (DD-QoL), which integrates the Objective Functional Dimension (OFD) with the Subjective Value Dimension (SVD). Based on this model, we develop a Value-Sensitive Assessment Framework (VSAF), a distinctive methodological contribution that uses conceptual engineering to shift HE’s primary goal from merely maximizing OFD to optimizing holistic QoL. Through an illustrative example of an AI-assisted care system for Alzheimer’s disease, we qualitatively demonstrate how a VSAF-guided approach can enhance SVD outcomes without compromising OFD. Our primary contribution is a novel, philosophically-grounded framework that provides a supplementary approach for reconstructing HE goals, ensuring that technological progress serves the broader, more profound aim of promoting valuable life experiences.