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Date: | Fri Mar 31 17:18:42 2006 |
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----------------- HES POSTING -----------------
The classical authors saw utility as the 'usefulness' of a good or service,
rather than a subjective state derived from use. So, Menger's take on
utility as "the capacity of a thing to serve for the satisfaction of human
needs" is interesting, because it could be read in a more "classical" way.
Even the notion of utility as "a general prerequisite of goods-character"
seems perfectly consistent with Ricardo's opening passage of Chapter One of
his Principles. Of course, 'usefulness' requires judgment, as Steve
Horwitz points out, and 'is [in a sense] in the eye of the beholder',
though it also cannot be completely devoid of a 'social' character. There
remains the question of how important the notion is for economics--it may
be "a prerequisite of goods-character" and yet "not the measure of
exchangeable value."
Mat Forstater
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