Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A Note
Modern microeconomic theory is based on a foundation of ordinal preference relations. Good textbooks stress that cardinal utility functions are artificial constructions of convenience, and that economics does not attribute any meaning to “utils.” However, we argue that despite this official position...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2014-02-01
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| Series: | Studia Humana |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/sh-2014-0003 |
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Article |
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doaj-a89f0c2591e44fe785510cb7e56bc9c42021-10-02T19:09:32ZengSciendoStudia Humana2299-05182014-02-0131273710.2478/sh-2014-0003sh-2014-0003Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A NoteBlock Walter E.0Wutscher Robert1Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics Joseph A. Butt, S.J. College of Business Loyola University New Orleans, U.S.A.Independent Scholar 3 Warblers Close Constantia 7806 South AfricaModern microeconomic theory is based on a foundation of ordinal preference relations. Good textbooks stress that cardinal utility functions are artificial constructions of convenience, and that economics does not attribute any meaning to “utils.” However, we argue that despite this official position, in practice mainstream economists rely on techniques that assume the validity of cardinal utility. Doing so has turned mainstream economic theorizing into an exercise of reductionism of objects down to the preferences of ‘ideal type’ subjects.https://doi.org/10.2478/sh-2014-0003ordinalcardinalutility |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
English |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
Block Walter E. Wutscher Robert |
| spellingShingle |
Block Walter E. Wutscher Robert Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A Note Studia Humana ordinal cardinal utility |
| author_facet |
Block Walter E. Wutscher Robert |
| author_sort |
Block Walter E. |
| title |
Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A Note |
| title_short |
Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A Note |
| title_full |
Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A Note |
| title_fullStr |
Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A Note |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Ordinal Or Cardinal Utility: A Note |
| title_sort |
ordinal or cardinal utility: a note |
| publisher |
Sciendo |
| series |
Studia Humana |
| issn |
2299-0518 |
| publishDate |
2014-02-01 |
| description |
Modern microeconomic theory is based on a foundation of ordinal preference relations. Good textbooks stress that cardinal utility functions are artificial constructions of convenience, and that economics does not attribute any meaning to “utils.” However, we argue that despite this official position, in practice mainstream economists rely on techniques that assume the validity of cardinal utility. Doing so has turned mainstream economic theorizing into an exercise of reductionism of objects down to the preferences of ‘ideal type’ subjects. |
| topic |
ordinal cardinal utility |
| url |
https://doi.org/10.2478/sh-2014-0003 |
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AT blockwaltere ordinalorcardinalutilityanote AT wutscherrobert ordinalorcardinalutilityanote |
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