Ethics out of Economics

by John Broome

Overview

John Broome's work has always combined sophisticated economic and philosophical expertise, and Ethics Out of Economics brings together some of his most important essays, augmented by a new introduction. This book examines some of the practical issues that lie between economics and ethics, and shows how utility theory can contribute to ethics, as many economic problems are also ethical problems. Professor Broome raises some fundamental questions about economic equality, preserving the environment, and the allocation of medical resources, and powerfully shows how economic methods can contribute to moral philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521642750
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/18/1999
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)
Lexile:	1120L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: ethics out of economics; Part I. Preference and Value: 2. 'Utility'; 3. Extended preferences; 4. Discounting the future; 5. Can a Humean be moderate?; Part II. The Structure of Good: 6. Bolker-Jeffrey expected utility theory and axiomatic utilitarianism; 7. Fairness; 8. Is incommensurability vagueness?; 9. Incommensurable values; 10. Goodness is reducible to betterness: the evil of death is the value of life; Part III. The Value of Life: 11. Trying to value a life; 12. Structured and unstructured valuation; 13. Qalys; 14. The value of living; 15. The value of a person.

Editorial Reviews

"...these are wonderful essays. They serve to lift the matters they deal with to a new plane of conceptual clarity and analytical rigor-so that even where one fins oneself not agreeing with the argument, or just puzzled by it, there is satifaction in knowing what exactly it is that one disagrees about, or where exactly one's puzzlement lies. It is sheer pleasure to see Broome's mind at work here. There is something clean and fresh about his approach...this set of essays is elegant, engaging, and teeming with philosophical interest. They deserve very close reading and will, I believe, handsomely repay the effort involved." Ethics

From the Publisher