tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post981588679841254595..comments2024-01-28T00:20:40.933-08:00Comments on Agoraphilia: L&S: From Hypothetical Consent to UtilitarianismUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-58194268792020738002007-07-08T08:53:00.000-07:002007-07-08T08:53:00.000-07:00Jan -- This seems too narrow a conception of utili...Jan -- This seems too narrow a conception of utilitarianism. The question, I think, is how these interpersonal utility comparisons would be made. I'm suggesting they are made, or could be made, by hypothetically imagining of yourself in many different persons' shoes -- so that you are exposed mentally to all the losses and gains associated with protecting a right (or adopting some other policy).<BR/><BR/>And it's clear that a right or policy is "better for each person" only in sufficiently abstract circumstances. For sufficiently specific circumstances, there will always be people who do not find themselves better off for the enforcement of a given right or policy. The convicted murderer facing a life sentence has no strong reason to support the law against murder. But once we've abstracted to the point where you don't know -- yet -- whether you'll be one of the winners or one of the losers from a given right or policy, then we're essentially performing a utilitarian calculation.Glen Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425907466575991113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-36740221423507555462007-07-08T07:25:00.000-07:002007-07-08T07:25:00.000-07:00This is loose talk, as is so often the case. Utili...This is loose talk, as is so often the case. Utilitarianism is NOT just about utility. As economists point out, everything is a matter of utility to somebodyo; that's pleonastic. We have utilitarianism ONLY when there is cardinal interpersonal measurement AND the claim is that the preferred alternative is preferred BECAUSE it maximizes net utility so conceived.<BR/><BR/>Social coordination is desirable because from each person's point of view,s it is better for that person, given the situations of others.Jan Narvesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07815532479637233892noreply@blogger.com