Are Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility Indeterminate?
@article{List2003AreIC, title={Are Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility Indeterminate?}, author={C. List}, journal={Erkenntnis}, year={2003}, volume={58}, pages={229-260} }
On the orthodox view in economics, interpersonal comparisons of utilityare not empirically meaningful, and ``hence'' impossible. To reassess this view, this paper draws onthe parallels between the problem of interpersonal comparisons of utility and the problem of translation of linguisticmeaning, as explored by Quine. I discuss several cases of what the empirical evidence for interpersonal comparisonsof utility might be and show that, even on the strongest of these, interpersonal comparisons… Expand
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