Ethics out of Economics

Ethics Out of Economics is the collected essays of John Broome on economics and ethical theory.

John Broome (Author)

9780521642750, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 February 1999

276 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.58 kg

'Ethics out of Economics is a collection of some of the most important papers by John Broome published, with one exception, over the last decade.' Mind

Many economic problems are also ethical problems: should we value economic equality? how much should we care about preserving the environment? how should medical resources be divided between saving life and enhancing life? This book examines some of the practical issues that lie between economics and ethics, and shows how utility theory can contribute to ethics. John Broome's work has, unusually, combined sophisticated economic and philosophical expertise, and Ethics Out of Economics brings together some of his most important essays, augmented with an updated introduction. The first group of essays deals with the relation between preference and value, the second with various questions about the formal structure of good, and the concluding section with the value of life. This work is of interest and importance for both economists and philosophers, and shows powerfully how economic methods can contribute to moral philosophy.

1. Introduction: ethics out of economics
Part I. Preference and Value: 2. 'Utility'
3. Extended preferences
4. Discounting the future
5. Can a Humean be moderate?
Part II. The Structure of Good: 6. Bolker-Jeffrey expected utility theory and axiomatic utilitarianism
7. Fairness
8. Is incommensurability vagueness?
9. Incommensurable values
10. Goodness is reducible to betterness: the evil of death is the value of life
Part III. The Value of Life: 11. Trying to value a life
12. Structured and unstructured valuation
13. Qalys
14. The value of living
15. The value of a person.

Subject Areas: Economic theory & philosophy [KCA], Philosophy [HP]