Harsanyi’s Utilitarian Theorem: A Simpler Proof and Some Ethical Connotations

Harsanyi’s ‘Utilitarian Theorem’ and Utilitarianism

Measurement-Theoretic Foundations of Preference Aggregation Logic for Weighted Utilitarianism

Harsanyi [4, 5] develops expected utility theory of von Neumann and Morgenstern [21] to provide two formalizations of utilitarianism. Weymark [22, 23] refers to these results as Harsanyi’s Aggregation and Impartial Observer Theorems. In this paper, we are concerned only with Aggregation Theorem. Sen [6] argues that von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility theory is an ordinal theory and, theref...

Some results on the block numerical range

The main results of this paper are generalizations of classical results from the numerical range to the block numerical range. A different and simpler proof for the Perron-Frobenius theory on the block numerical range of an irreducible nonnegative matrix is given. In addition, the Wielandt's lemma and the Ky Fan's theorem on the block numerical range are extended.

Contractarian Ethics and Harsanyi’s Two Justifications of Utilitarianism

Harsanyi defends utilitarianism by means of an axiomatic proof and by what he calls the ‘equiprobability model’. Both justifications of utilitarianism aim to show that utilitarian ethics can be derived from Bayesian rationality and some weak moral constraints on the reasoning of rational agents. I argue that, from the perspective of Bayesian agents, one of these constraints, the impersonality c...

Harsanyi’s aggregation theorem with incomplete preferences

We provide a generalization of Harsanyi (1955)’s aggregation theorem to the case of incomplete preferences at the individual and social level. Individuals and society have possibly incomplete expected utility preferences that are represented by sets of expected utility functions. Under Pareto indifference, social preferences are represented through a set of aggregation rules that are utilitaria...