The Impartial Observer Theorem of Social Ethics

Philippe Mongin

Public Economics from EconWPA

Abstract: Following a long-standing philosophical tradition, impartiality is a distinctive and determining feature of moral judgments, especially in matters of distributive justice. This broad ethical tradition was revived in welfare economics by Vickrey, and above all, Harsanyi, under the form of the so-called Impartial Observer Theorem. The paper offers an analytical reconstruction of this argument, using a simple mathematical formalism, as well as a conceptual critique of each its premisses.

Keywords: Utilitarianism; Impartiality; Sympathy; Von Neumann- Morgenstern Utility Theory; Subjective Probability. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 B21 D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
Date: 2005-10-01
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 32. 'The Impartial Observer Theorem of Social Ethics' is one the recent papers which contributed to the revival of the impartiality tradition in the theory of economic justice.
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http://129.3.20.41/eps/pe/papers/0510/0510002.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The impartial observer theorem of social ethics (1999)
Working Paper: The Impartial Observer Theorem of Social Ethics (1999)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:0510002

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