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The homeless observer: John Harsanyi on interpersonal utility comparisons and bargaining, 1950-1964

Fontaine, Philippe (2010) The homeless observer: John Harsanyi on interpersonal utility comparisons and bargaining, 1950-1964. Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 32 (02). pp. 145-173. ISSN 1053-8372

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Identification Number: 10.1017/S1053837210000155

Abstract

This paper traces interpersonal utility comparisons and bargaining in the work of John Harsanyi from the 1950s to the mid-1960s. As his preoccupation with how theorists can obtain information about agents moved from an approach centered on empathetic understanding to the more distanced perspective associated with game theory, Harsanyi shifted emphasis from the social scientist’s lack of information vis-à-vis agents to agents’ lack of information about each other. In the process, he provided economists with an analytical framework they could use to study problems related to the distribution of information among agents while consolidating the perspective of a distant observer whose knowledge can replace that of real people.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJourna...
Additional Information: © 2010 Cambridge University Press
Divisions: Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Date Deposited: 02 Feb 2012 11:50
Last Modified: 13 Sep 2024 22:56
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/41753

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