The Economy of Happiness

Happiness in philosophical ethics and utility or satisfaction in economics have much in common. The paper investigates the ethical economy of happiness as a joint topic of ethical and economic theory. It shows that limits of the calculus of utility maximization also apply to concepts of the greatest happiness in philosophy: it is impossible to distinguish the utility or happiness maximizing life strategy. The paper discusses the problem of inter-personal comparisons of happiness and satisfaction and the relevance of the theory of material value qualities developed by Max Scheler’s non-formal, material value ethics for the theory of goods, private and public. Ethics and economics are concerned with rules and duties. It is, however, also necessary to develop a theory of goods and values. Reflections are also made on the relationship between fact and value. Since there are side-effects of facts or experiences on our values, the naturalist fallacy of deriving value statements from experience seems to be less a fallacy than is usually assumed since Hume.