Use or utility - Philosophical Concept | Alexandria
Use or utility: the elusive measure of satisfaction derived from consuming a good or service. More than just simple usefulness, utility attempts to quantify the subjective benefit, a phantom metric that dances tantalizingly on the edge of objective measurement. Often conflated with price or inherent quality, utility challenges us to consider the deeply personal and often irrational aspects of human choice.
The seeds of utility theory can be traced back to the musings of 18th-century moral philosophers. While not explicitly labeled as such, the concept lurks within Jeremy Bentham’s articulation of utilitarianism in 1789, arguing that actions are right insofar as they promote happiness. Though not directly related to standard economics, his publication resonates with the core question of quantifying the value derived from experiences. Contemporary thinkers such as Daniel Bernoulli started to formulate mathematical models of decision-making that accounted for risk and personal preference.
As economics matured, utility became a cornerstone of demand theory. In the late 19th century, figures like William Stanley Jevons and Carl Menger independently championed the idea of marginal utility – the change in satisfaction from consuming one more unit of a good. This notion, however, wrestled with fundamental challenges. How could one truly compare the “utils” derived by different individuals? Was utility an objective reality waiting to be discovered or a construct of economic modeling? These discussions sparked debates that rippled through the 20th century, giving rise to behavioral economics, which acknowledges the psychological quirks that consistently warp supposedly rational choices. Consider, for instance, the curious allure of limited-edition items, where perceived scarcity inflates utility far beyond any functional advantage. Or the powerful sway of branding, where an established name subtly enhances the subjective experience of consumption.
Today, utility continues to shape economic analysis, influencing policy decisions and business strategies alike. Refined through sophisticated mathematical models and increasingly informed by psychology and neuroscience, its core mystery persists. Is utility a real phenomenon, or merely a convenient abstraction? And if it is real, what are its limits?