I call an action “good” when it is what you should do - i.e. it has normative force behind it. This includes all choices. So, yes, it is a broader concept than traditional ‘goodness,’ but thats fine.
I usually reserve “desired and undesired” to refer to the psychological impulses that we sometimes fight and sometimes go along with. I may desire that second piece of chocolate cake, but if I really think it through, I don’t really want to eat it—I shouldn’t eat it. The economist’s utility function probably refers to desires since the goal is to model actual behavior, but the ethicist’s utility function is built with a completely different goal in mind.
I call an action “good” when it is what you should do - i.e. it has normative force behind it. This includes all choices. So, yes, it is a broader concept than traditional ‘goodness,’ but thats fine.
I usually reserve “desired and undesired” to refer to the psychological impulses that we sometimes fight and sometimes go along with. I may desire that second piece of chocolate cake, but if I really think it through, I don’t really want to eat it—I shouldn’t eat it. The economist’s utility function probably refers to desires since the goal is to model actual behavior, but the ethicist’s utility function is built with a completely different goal in mind.