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22 - Understanding happiness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2009

Robert E. Lane
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

In this penultimate Part VII we explore the concepts of utility, satisfaction, and happiness. Our target is the relation of these moods and thoughts to market institutions and practices. Koopmans reports that economists study “the satisfaction of human wants in human society,” and “the best ways of satisfying human wants.” Mises claims that there are no boundaries to economics, for “economic action consists in the endeavor to remedy the state of dissatisfaction” wherever it is to be found. Pigou states: “In the deepest sense, economic reality comprises states of mind – the satisfactions and dissatisfactions of human beings – and nothing else.” To this may be added the catechism of an economics text: “What is the economic system supposed to do? The answer that it should contribute to human happiness is as good a start as any.”

Certainly the market makes a contribution to the satisfaction of human wants, but as pointed out in the introduction to this part, there are reasons to doubt the effectiveness of the market in maximizing happiness. In order to clarify both the contributions and the failures of the market in these respects, we must first examine the nature of happiness and utility, explore their relationships to each other and to the market, and only then can we assess the claims of the economists.

I start this chapter with an exploration of the conditions necessary for the development of a theory of happiness as a contribution to understanding the strange association between economics and what we may call hedonics. The second major theme in this discussion deals with skepticism about both the possibility of happiness and the possibility of our knowing anything about it.

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The Market Experience , pp. 427 - 453
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1991

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  • Understanding happiness
  • Robert E. Lane, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: The Market Experience
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625664.029
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  • Understanding happiness
  • Robert E. Lane, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: The Market Experience
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625664.029
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Understanding happiness
  • Robert E. Lane, Yale University, Connecticut
  • Book: The Market Experience
  • Online publication: 18 December 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511625664.029
Available formats
×