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The Valuation of Decision and Individual Welfare: A Humean Approach

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  • André Lapidus

    (PHARE - Pôle d'Histoire de l'Analyse et des Représentations Économiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

Abstract

Drawing on passages in Book II of the Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), in the Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751), in the Dissertation on the Passions (1757), and in some of the Essays (1777), this paper is built upon Hume's distinction between three alternative valuations of an individual position: desire (which leads to action), interest, and happiness. The difficulty comes from the fact that desire does not depend on pleasure as an impression, but on the force of an idea of pleasure, based upon a belief in the realisation of the correlative impression. Typically, this belief is linked to the underlying emotional state, expressed in the degree of violence of the passions, which governs both the individual's reactivity to pleasure, and his preference for present (compared to future) pleasures. On the contrary, interest and happiness do not depend on the distortion introduced by beliefs, and are directly linked to pleasure. It is shown that the decisional valuation only coincides with interest in the case of what Hume called a "calm passion", which gives birth to the greatest happiness.

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  • André Lapidus, 2010. "The Valuation of Decision and Individual Welfare: A Humean Approach," Post-Print hal-00344868, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00344868
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://paris1.hal.science/hal-00344868
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marc-Arthur Diaye & Andre Lapidus, 2005. "A Humean theory of choice of which rationality may be one consequence," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 89-111.
    2. Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, 2003. "Time-Inconsistent Preferences in Adam Smith and David Hume," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 241-268, Summer.
    3. Gordon F. Davis, 2003. "Philosophical Psychology and Economic Psychology in David Hume and Adam Smith," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 269-304, Summer.
    4. Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, 2003. "Time-Inconsistent Preferences in Adam Smith and David Hume," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 241-268, Summer.
    5. Robert Sugden, 2005. "Why rationality is not a consequence of Hume's theory of choice," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 113-118.
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    Cited by:

    1. André Lapidus, 2011. "The Possibility of a Welfare Policy in a World of Emotion-Driven Individuals: A Humean Point of View," Post-Print hal-00538106, HAL.
    2. Marc-Arthur Diaye & André Lapidus, 2016. "Decision and Time from a Humean Point of View," Working Papers hal-01372527, HAL.
    3. Marc-Arthur Diaye & André Lapidus, 2012. "Pleasure and belief in Hume's Decision Process," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 355-384, July.
    4. Marc-Arthur Diaye & André Lapidus, 2019. "Decision and Time from a Humean Point of View," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01372527, HAL.
    5. Shiri Cohen Kaminitz, 2019. "Contemporary Procedural Utility and Hume’s Early Idea of Utility," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 269-282, January.
    6. Laurie Bréban, 2017. "An Investigation into the Smithian System of Sympathy: from Cognition to Emotion," Working Papers hal-01467340, HAL.
    7. Laurie Bréban, 2018. "An Investigation into the Smithian System of Sympathy: from Cognition to Emotion," Post-Print hal-03904227, HAL.
    8. André Lapidus, 2019. "David Hume and Rationality in Decision-Making: A Case Study on the Economic Reading of a Philosopher," Post-Print hal-01831901, HAL.

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