Saint-Paul The Tyranny of Utility

Behavioral Social Science and the Rise of Paternalism
Course Book
ISBN: 978-1-4008-3889-9
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 176 Seiten, EPUB

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Saint-Paul, Gilles

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Wirtschaftspolitik, politische Ökonomie
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein Wirtschaftstheorie, Wirtschaftsphilosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Wirtschafts- und Finanzpolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

Part I: The Demise of the Unitary Individual

Chapter 1: Political Organization and the Conception of Man 7

Chapter 2: The Challenge to the Unitary Individual in Western Thought 14

Chapter 3: Economics: The Last Bastion of Rationality 19

Chapter 4: Economics Goes Behavioral 41

Chapter 5: From Utility to Happiness 51

Part II: The Rise of Paternalism

Chapter 6: Post-Utilitarianism: Searching for a Collective Soul

in the Behavioral Era 65

Appendix to Chapter 6. A Numerical Example 73

Chapter 7: The Policy Prescriptions of Behavioral Economics 77

Chapter 8: The Modern Paternalistic State 97

Chapter 9: Responsibility Transfer 115

Chapter 10: Th e Role of Science 123

Chapter 11: Markets in a Paternalistic World 134

Chapter 12: Where to Go? 146

References 155

Index 161

Über Autor(innen)

Gilles Saint-Paul is professor of economics at the Toulouse School of Economics. His books include Innovation and Inequality (Princeton).