Screen LibraryThe pursuit of happiness : philosophical and psychological foundations of utility /
"Utilitarianism began as a movement for social reform that changed the world, based on the ideal of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. There is a tendency to enter into debates for and against the ethical doctrine of Utilitarianism without a clear understanding of its basic concepts. The...
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| Published: |
Oxford University Press,
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| Publisher Address: | Oxford : |
| Publication Dates: |
2023. ©2020 |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"Utilitarianism began as a movement for social reform that changed the world, based on the ideal of maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain. There is a tendency to enter into debates for and against the ethical doctrine of Utilitarianism without a clear understanding of its basic concepts. The Pursuit of Happiness now offers a rigorous account of the foundations of Utilitarianism, and vividly sets out possible ways forward for its future development. 0To understand Utilitarianism, we must understand utility: how is it to be measured, and how the aggregate utility of a group can be understood. Louis Narens and Brian Skyrms, respectively a cognitive scientist and a philosopher, pursue these questions by adopting both formal and historical methods, examining theories of measuring utility from Jeremy Bentham, the founder of the Utilitarian movement, to the present day, taking in psychophysics, positivism, measurement theory, meaningfulness,0neuropsychology, representation theorems, and the dynamics of formation of conventions. On this basis, Narens and Skyrms argue that a meaningful form of Utilitarianism that can coordinate action in social groups is possible through interpersonal comparison and the formation of conventions."-- |
| Carrier Form: | ix, 189 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages [175]-183) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780198878728 0198878729 9780198856450 0198856458 |
| Index Number: | B843 |
| CLC: |
B842.6 B82-064 |
| Call Number: | B82-064/N225 |
| Contents: | Cover -- The Pursuit of Happiness: Philosophical and Psychological Foundations of Utility -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface -- List of Figures -- 1: The Pursuit of Happiness: Preview -- Part I: The Utility Concepts -- 2: Jeremy Bentham: Philosophical Radical -- 2.1 Radical Reform -- 2.2 Measuring Utility -- 3: Early Utilitarians -- 3.1 Jeremy Bentham -- 3.2 John Stuart Mill -- 3.3 William Stanley Jevons -- 3.4 Francis Ysidro Edgeworth -- 4: Nineteenth-Century Psychophysics -- 4.1 Weber, Fechner, and Just Noticeable Differences -- 4.2 Bernoulli's Utility Law -- 4.3 Wundt on Psychophysics of Pleasure -- 4.4 Plateau's Power Law -- 4.5 Von Kries -- 4.6 Peirce and Jastrow -- 4.7 Conclusion -- Appendix 4.1. Fechner's Law -- Appendix 4.2. Comparison of Fechner's and Bernoulli's Approaches -- 5: Measurement Essentials in a Nutshell -- 6: Skeptics -- 6.1 Skeptics -- 6.2 Indifference Curves -- 6.3 Two Kinds of Ordinalis -- 6.3.1 Enter the Interval Scale: Franz Alt -- 6.4 Orthodox Ordinalists -- 6.5 Pareto Dominance -- Appendix 6.1. Revealed Preference -- Appendix 6.2. Revealed Preference Worked Out -- 7: Using Chance to Measure Utility -- 7.1 Von Neumann-Morgenstern -- 7.2 Ramsey -- 8: Harsanyi and Utilitarianism -- 8.1 Ideal Observer and Social Aggregation -- 8.2 Interpersonal Comparisons? -- Part II: Measurement and Psychophysics -- 9: Neurobiology of Pleasure and Pain -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Neurobiology of Pleasure and Pain -- 9.3 The "Pleasure Center" -- 9.4 The "Pleasure Chemical" -- 9.5 Pleasure and Pain -- 9.6 Measurement of Pleasure in the Best-Case Scenario -- 10: Modern Measurement -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Extensive Measurement -- 10.3 Stevens' Measurement Theory -- 10.4 Representational Theory of Measurement 5058 10.5 Scale Type -- 10.6 Modern Measurement: Concluding Remarks -- Appendix 10.1. Definition of Extensive Structure -- 11: Psychophysical Measures of Intensity -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Semiorders and Just Noticeable Differences |