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1.2.Paretoturn-economicsandpsychology
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EspeciallyJevonsreliedonutilitarianism.Forhimallpleasuresandpainscanbe
reducedtoasingledimensionofutilityandalldesirescanbesimplifiedtothe
desiretomaximizeutility.Inthefirstgenerationofneoclassicaltheory,theutility-
-basedchoicecanbecharacterizedbythecardinalandhedonisticnotionofutility.
Cardinalapproachmeansthatitispossibletoassessutilityandgiveitnumerical
values.Thehedonisticnotionisconnectedwiththeamountofpleasurableor
painfulpsychicalfeelingthatconsumergetsfromsomegoodsoractions(Hands,
2009).Whatmakesvalue-freeeconomicsandBenthamsosimilaristheirreluctance
toindicatesomegoalsofhumanactions.Benthamfindsthemaximizationof
utilityasanenditself.Therefore,hecriticizestheGreekancientphilosopherswho
believedthatsomepleasuresdepreciatehumanbeing.TheEnglishphilosopher
scoffsattheirsearchingforthehighestgood(summumbonum)andclaimsthatthis
istheHconsummatenonsense”(Bentham,1983,p.134).Inhisopinion,searching
forsomethingbetteranddifferentfrompleasuredoesnothaveanysense,asitis
impossibletobefound.Plato,withhisrealmofideas,isforBenthamHthemaster
manufacturerofnonsense”(Bentham,1983,p.137).Benthamalsostatesthatthere
isnodistinctionbetweenbetterandworsepleasures.Hewrites:HPrejudiceapart,
thegameofpush-pinisofequalvaluewiththeartsandsciencesofmusicand
poetry”(Bentham,1825,p.206).Inhisopinion,bothactivitiesareequallygood
iftheygivethesameamountofutility.However,thereisacrucialdifference
betweennotdecidingwhichgoodsaremoreworthy(Bentham)andassuming
thatpeoplealwaysmaximizetheirutilitywhichimpliesthatpeoplechoosewhat
isthebestforthem(value-freeeconomics).
1.2.Paretoturneconomicsandpsychology
Atthebeginningofthe20thcentury,economicsgotridofpsychologyandthis
processiscalledlParetoturn.’Manyeconomists,andamongthemBruniand
Sugden(2007),comprehensivelyexplainedhowitwasdone.Therefore,inthis
sectiononlythemainfactorsinthisprocesswillbeanalysed.Tobeginwith,
itmustbestatedthatmarginalistsbelievedincardinalutility.However,they
couldnotfindaconvincingmethodtomeasureutility(see(Stigler,1950)).
Ofcourse,thelackofamethodtomeasureutilityattractedalotofcriticism.
Robbinsunderlinesthatmarginalutilitytheorywasseverelycriticized,because
ofitspsychologicalhedonismfoundation:
TheborderlandsofEconomicsarethehappyhuntinggroundofmindsaverse
totheeffortofexactthought,and,intheseambiguousregions,inrecent
years,endlesstimehasbeendevotedtoattacksontheallegedpsychological
assumptionsofEconomicScience.(Robbins,1932,p.83)
Psychologicalhedonismquicklylostintellectualcredibilityanditwasevident
formarginaliststhattheyhadtoreformitstheoreticalfoundations.Cardinal