Saint-Paul, Gilles (2012) Liberty and the post-utilitarian society. TSE Working Paper, n. 12-334

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Abstract

Utilitarian foundations for limited government are shaky insofar as they assume rational and consistent individuals. Recently economists’ assumption of rational actors has come under sustained attack. Behavioural economics has suggested that people are plagued by irrational biases and inconsistencies. The author elucidates how these developments have led to a post-utilitarianism which is held to justify paternalistic interventions by the state via ‘sin taxes’ , direct bans or new obligations. Individual responsibility is seriously undermined, as is faith in markets. He concludes that supporters of individual freedom need to move away from utilitarian reasoning, reassert core values of autonomy and responsibility, and define strict limits on the scope of government intervention.

Item Type: Monograph (Working Paper)
Date: September 2012
Uncontrolled Keywords: behavioural economics, utilitarianism, government, paternalism
Subjects: B- ECONOMIE ET FINANCE
Divisions: TSE-R (Toulouse)
Site: UT1
Date Deposited: 09 Jul 2014 17:28
Last Modified: 02 Apr 2021 15:47
OAI Identifier: oai:tse-fr.eu:26144
URI: https://publications.ut-capitole.fr/id/eprint/15379
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