The tyranny of utility [electronic resource] : behavioral social science and the rise of paternalism / Gilles Saint-Paul.
2011
HB846 .S25 2011eb
Linked e-resources
Linked Resource
Online Access
Details
Title
The tyranny of utility [electronic resource] : behavioral social science and the rise of paternalism / Gilles Saint-Paul.
Author
Saint-Paul, Gilles.
ISBN
9781400838899 (electronic book)
9780691128177
9780691128177
Imprint
Princeton [New Jersey] : Princeton University Press, c2011.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (vii, 163 p.)
Call Number
HB846 .S25 2011eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
330.12
Summary
The general assumption that social policy should be utilitarian--that society should be organized to yield the greatest level of welfare--leads inexorably to increased government interventions. Historically, however, the science of economics has advocated limits to these interventions for utilitarian reasons and because of the assumption that people know what is best for themselves. But more recently, behavioral economics has focused on biases and inconsistencies in individual behavior. Based on these developments, governments now prescribe the foods we eat, the apartments we rent, and the composition of our financial portfolios. The Tyranny of Utility takes on this rise of paternalism and its dangers for individual freedoms, and examines how developments in economics and the social sciences are leading to greater government intrusion in our private lives. Gilles Saint-Paul posits that the utilitarian foundations of individual freedom promoted by traditional economics are fundamentally flawed. When combined with developments in social science that view the individual as incapable of making rational and responsible choices, utilitarianism seems to logically call for greater governmental intervention in our lives. Arguing that this cannot be defended on purely instrumental grounds, Saint-Paul calls for individual liberty to be restored as a central value in our society. Exploring how behavioral economics is contributing to the excessive rise of paternalistic interventions, The Tyranny of Utility presents a controversial challenge to the prevailing currents in economic and political discourse.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Available in Other Form
Tyranny of utility.
Linked Resources
Online Access
Record Appears in
Online Resources > Ebooks
All Resources
All Resources
Table of Contents
Political organization and the conception of man
The challenge to the unitary individual in Western thought
Economics: the last bastion of rationality
Economics goes behavioral
From utility to happiness
Post-utilitarianism : searching for a collective soul in the behavioral era
The policy prescriptions of behavioral economics
The modern paternalistic state
Responsibility transfer
The role of science
Markets in a paternalistic world
Where to go?
The challenge to the unitary individual in Western thought
Economics: the last bastion of rationality
Economics goes behavioral
From utility to happiness
Post-utilitarianism : searching for a collective soul in the behavioral era
The policy prescriptions of behavioral economics
The modern paternalistic state
Responsibility transfer
The role of science
Markets in a paternalistic world
Where to go?