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Contemporary Procedural Utility and Hume’s Early Idea of Utility

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  • Shiri Cohen Kaminitz

    (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Abstract

An appealing concept developed by economists in contemporary happiness studies is that of procedural utility: people’s tendency to value the processes that lead to outcomes in addition to the outcomes themselves. This paper identifies David Hume as an early forerunner of a very similar idea. Moreover, it demonstrates just how Hume used this idea to justify the very idea of commerce. The significance of this is twofold: demonstrating just how Hume is a forerunner of the later concept on the individual level (micro-level), but also pointing to a different approach to the concept of utility on the social level.

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  • Shiri Cohen Kaminitz, 2019. "Contemporary Procedural Utility and Hume’s Early Idea of Utility," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 269-282, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:20:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9943-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-017-9943-1
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