Please read it. Even if you don’t agree with it, it should at the very least give you an appreciation that there are strong reasons to doubt your conclusion, and that there are people smarter/more knowledgeable about this than either of us who would not accept it. (For my part, learning that John Broome thinks there could be something to the argument has shifted my credence in it slightly, even if Weymark ultimately concludes that Broome’s argument doesn’t quite work.)
The discussion is framed around Harsanyi’s axiomatic “proof” of utilitarianism, but I’m fairly sure that if Harsanyi’s argument fails for the reasons discussed, then so will yours.
EDIT: I’d very much like to know whether (a) reading this shifts your estimate of either (i) whether your argument has provided strong reasons for anything, or (ii) whether utilitarianism is true (conditional on expectation maximization being rational); and (b) if not, why not?
I haven’t read it yet. I’ll probably go back and change the word “strong”; it is too subjective, and provokes resistance, and is a big distraction. People get caught up protesting that the evidence isn’t “strong”, which I think is beside the point. Even weak evidence for the argument I’m presenting should still be very interesting.
Phil, I’ve finally managed to find a paper addressing this issue that doesn’t appear to be behind a paywall.
Weymark, John (2005) “Measurement Theory and the Foundations of Utilitarianism”
Please read it. Even if you don’t agree with it, it should at the very least give you an appreciation that there are strong reasons to doubt your conclusion, and that there are people smarter/more knowledgeable about this than either of us who would not accept it. (For my part, learning that John Broome thinks there could be something to the argument has shifted my credence in it slightly, even if Weymark ultimately concludes that Broome’s argument doesn’t quite work.)
The discussion is framed around Harsanyi’s axiomatic “proof” of utilitarianism, but I’m fairly sure that if Harsanyi’s argument fails for the reasons discussed, then so will yours.
EDIT: I’d very much like to know whether (a) reading this shifts your estimate of either (i) whether your argument has provided strong reasons for anything, or (ii) whether utilitarianism is true (conditional on expectation maximization being rational); and (b) if not, why not?
I haven’t read it yet. I’ll probably go back and change the word “strong”; it is too subjective, and provokes resistance, and is a big distraction. People get caught up protesting that the evidence isn’t “strong”, which I think is beside the point. Even weak evidence for the argument I’m presenting should still be very interesting.