Axiomatic justifications of the utility principle

a formal investigation

Per-Erik Malmnäs

pp. 233-249

in: Synthese 99 (2), 1994.

Abstract

It is argued that existing axiomatic theories of utility do not provide the utility principle or the principle of maximising expected utility with a formal justification. It is also argued that these theories only put mild constraints on a decision-maker in a decision-context. Finally, it is argued that the prospects are not particularly bright for finding formal non-circular arguments for the utility principle that do not rely on the law of large numbers.