The Temperature of the Brain: Edgeworth’s Thermodynamic Analogies of Utility Measurement

Thomas Michael Mueller

History of Political Economy, 2020, vol. 52, issue 4, 709-740

Abstract: In 1881, Francis Ysidro Edgeworth attempted to provide a solid psychological basis for utility measurement. I will show that Edgeworth’s main struggle was to provide a possible measurement scale for a feeling—pleasure—using some kind of physical magnitude that would have allowed both intra and interpersonal comparisons, thus justifying the use of mathematical techniques to answer welfare issues. Edgeworth found inspiration in a similar quest, the invention of temperature, which had permitted the transformation of a feeling, “coldness,†into a physical quantity, temperature. Edgeworth faced two kinds of criticisms: concerning the use of psychological notions in economics and concerning the nature of utility itself. Both criticisms were also stated in terms of the thermodynamic metaphor, and the thermometer analogy played a major role in the exchanges. Following those criticisms and his own analysis, Edgeworth would move from a ratio to an ordinal understanding of utility, despite never abandoning the idea that economics should be psychologically grounded.

Keywords: Francis Ysidro Edgeworth; ordinal utility; measurement; economic thought (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi-org.proxy.lib.duke.edu/10.1215/00182702-8604009 link to full text (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hop:hopeec:v:52:y:2020:i:4:p:709-740

Access Statistics for this article

History of Political Economy is currently edited by Kevin D. Hoover

More articles in History of Political Economy from Duke University Press Duke University Press 905 W. Main Street, Suite 18B Durham, NC 27701.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Center for the History of Political Economy Webmaster ().