But no mathematical argument will tell you the right way to measure and combine utilities . . .
Much the same could be said about potential probability functions.
I think what I'm looking for is some equivalent to Jaynes's "Desiderata" for probability, but in the realm of either basic utility functions or how to combine them.
. . . any more than it will tell you that you should be a utilitarian in the first place.
Being new to this, I'm also interested in a pointer to some kind of standard argument for (any kind of) utilitarianism. I mean something more than Yvain's wonderful little Consequentialism FAQ.
I think what I'm looking for is some equivalent to Jaynes's "Desiderata" for probability, but in the realm of either basic utility functions or how to combine them.
The VNM theorem goes from certain hypotheses about your preferences to the existence of a utility function describing them. However, the utility function is defined only up to an affine transformation. This implies that given only that, there is no way to add up utilities, even the utilities of a single person. (You can, however , take weighted averages of them.) It also deals only ...
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