Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorBarrett, Jacob
dc.date.accessioned2019-09-27T17:24:30Z
dc.date.available2019-09-27T17:24:30Z
dc.date.issued2019-08-13
dc.identifier.citationBarrett, J. (2019). Interpersonal comparisons with preferences and desires. Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 18(3), 219–241. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X19828021en_US
dc.identifier.issn1470-594X
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/1470594x19828021
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/634632
dc.description.abstractMost moral and political theories require us to make interpersonal comparisons of welfare. This poses a challenge to the popular view that welfare consists in the satisfaction of preferences or desires, because interpersonal comparisons of preference or desire satisfaction are widely thought to be conceptually problematic, and purported solutions to this problem to lead to a hopeless subjectivism about these comparisons. In this article, I argue that the key to meeting this challenge lies in distinguishing preferences from desires, and preference satisfaction from desire satisfaction theories of welfare. More specifically, I defend three conclusions. First, interpersonal comparisons of preference satisfaction do raise a serious conceptual problem, but this same problem does not arise for interpersonal comparisons of desire satisfaction. Second, none of the existing solutions to the conceptual problem of interpersonal comparisons of preference satisfaction are satisfactory, since none explain how we can make interpersonal comparisons of preference satisfaction objectively. Third, we can at least make a limited range of objective interpersonal comparisons of desire satisfaction, and there are reasons to be optimistic about the possibility of making a wider range of such comparisons, but there is a need for further research on the topic.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherSAGE PUBLICATIONS INCen_US
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2019.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectinterpersonal comparisons of welfareen_US
dc.subjectinterpersonal comparisons of utilityen_US
dc.subjectinterpersonal comparisons of well-beingen_US
dc.subjectpreferencesen_US
dc.subjectdesiresen_US
dc.subjectpreference satisfactionen_US
dc.subjectdesire satisfactionen_US
dc.titleInterpersonal comparisons with preferences and desiresen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.contributor.departmentUniv Arizona, Dept Philosophyen_US
dc.identifier.journalPOLITICS PHILOSOPHY & ECONOMICSen_US
dc.description.collectioninformationThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.en_US
dc.eprint.versionFinal accepted manuscripten_US
dc.source.volume18
dc.source.issue3
dc.source.beginpage219-241
refterms.dateFOA2019-09-27T17:24:30Z


Files in this item

Thumbnail
Name:
Interpersonal_Comparisons_with ...
Size:
301.4Kb
Format:
PDF
Description:
Final Accepted Manuscript

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record