----------------- 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 ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]