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/lp/cambridge-university-press/book-review-happiness-concept-measurement-and-promotion-0b10eIYal9
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Copyright
- © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press
- ISSN
- 1474-0028
- eISSN
- 0266-2671
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0266267122000281
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
sOne of my first encounters with a work of philosophy was John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism. I found it greatly inspiring. Mill’s utilitarianism involves an attention to those suffering, but has a positive outlook at the same time. When I developed in my studies, I was quite surprised to find that, while this may be changing these days, in both economics and philosophy, utilitarianism has few adherents. Interestingly, this is mostly for different reasons. Following Robbins (1932), economists abandoned the idea that we should think of the human good in terms of psychological properties, such as pleasure or happiness. Measuring these properties appeared impossible, or at least, not sufficiently scientific. Philosophers, on the other hand, were concerned about the reduction of all value to happiness, and to pleasure in particular. Robert Nozick’s (1974) well-known thought experiment of the experience machine – a machine in which someone could have the experience of doing wonderful things without actually doing them – convinced many that pleasure (and happiness) is not all that there is to living a good life. Moreover, should we really aim to maximize welfare? A racist society built on the labours of a small racial minority could be maximizing its
Journal
Economics and Philosophy – Cambridge University Press
Published: Mar 1, 2023