interpersonal comparisons Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...interpersonal comparisons Comparing the welfare of one individual with that of another. The welfare level of an individual is measured by a utility function . Utility can be ordinal so that it is no more than a numbering of indifference curves. An ordinal utility function can be subjected to any monotonic increasing transformation, f , without changing its meaning: the initial utility function U and the transformed utility U * = f ( U ) are equivalent. Utility is cardinal when the initial utility function U is equivalent to the transformed function...
interpersonal utility comparisons Reference library
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
... utility comparisons Many theories of social welfare recognize that concepts of welfare or well-being ( utility in economic terms) differ among persons and societies, but nonetheless require that comparisons between these concepts be possible. Utilitarianism is a prominent example: the goal of maximizing the sum of the utilities of all individuals in society requires a quantifiable common measure of well-being; similarly, the Rawlsian concept of justice seeks to maximize the welfare of the most disadvantaged individuals in society (see John ...
2 Corinthians Reference library
Margaret MacDonald and Margaret MacDonald
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...348–50 ). In v. 13 Paul offers an interesting insight into the nature of the comparisons the Corinthians were making. ‘Madness’ here perhaps refers to religious ecstasy ( Furnish 1984 : 308 ). His rivals probably displayed ecstatic experiences in public, and accused Paul of failing to produce these experiences as evidence of his apostleship. Paul seems to be claiming that ecstatic experiences should be reserved for private worship ( cf. 12:1–7 ). The text invites comparison with 1 Cor 14:18–19 where Paul claims to speak in tongues frequently, but where...
The Necessity of Renewing Islamic Thought and Reinvigorating Religious Understanding Reference library
Nurcholish Madjid
Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook
...in him. What then is the tangible form of that sublime character? None other than actions (or ‘amal ) and deeds that are harmonious and consonant or salih [appropriate] in their comprehensive relationship with the living environment, especially in interpersonal relationships. . . . But how does man understand and know the Godcreated laws that control the domain of life, whose vastness is unlimited? Since the universe is limitless, the laws which govern it must also be limitless. Such indeed is the case: God's laws repose...
Introduction to the Pentateuch Reference library
G. I. Davies
The Oxford Bible Commentary
... ( 1983 ). This actually has very little to say about the Pentateuch—it is mostly about the Deuteronomistic History. But in it Van Seters draws numerous comparisons between Old Testament history-writing and comparable literature from other cultures, and he particularly emphasizes the similarity with ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus, who lived in the fifth century bce . From these comparisons Van Seters argued for a greater appreciation that the Deuteronomistic History was a literary work whose author was ready to write creatively where his...
Judges Reference library
Susan Niditch and Susan Niditch
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...chronology but of the subsequent monarchic periods as well. Israel's fortunes depend not upon pragmatic matters such as economic strength, political unity, or military preparedness but rather upon the health of the covenantal relationship with God. Notice the language of interpersonal relationship through which covenant is expressed. Israel ‘abandons’ YHWH ( vv. 12–13 ) to follow other gods, especially the Canaanite Baal and his consort. YHWH in turn becomes ‘angry’ and ‘incensed’ with them ( vv. 12, 14, 20 ), while they ‘lust after’ these foreign gods ( v....
cardinal utility Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
... U generates the transformed utility function U* = a + bU , where b > 0. The utility function U is cardinal if the functions U and U* represent the same set of underlying preferences. An example of cardinal utility is an expected utility function. See also interpersonal comparisons ; ordinal utility...
equal sacrifice Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...and measurement of sacrifice. One possibility is that there should be an equal sacrifice of consumption but this could be in absolute or proportional terms. An alternative is that the sacrifice is measured in utility terms, but this raises difficult questions about interpersonal comparisons of utility. See also ability to pay...
Griffin, James Reference library
Roger Crisp
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (2 ed.)
...James ( 1933– ). Moral philosopher best known for work on well-being , interpersonal comparison of well-being, and consequentialism. His first book was Wittgenstein's Logical Atomism (Oxford, 1964 ). In Well-Being (Oxford, 1986 ), Griffin argues for an ‘informed-desire theory’: well-being consists in the possession of those objects one would desire if rational and informed. These are accomplishment, the components of human existence (autonomy, basic capabilities to act, etc.), understanding, enjoyment, and deep personal relations. The...
Pareto optimality Reference library
D. W. Haslett
The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (2 ed.)
...for purposes of this criterion, a person is ‘better off’ with some alternative A rather than B if and only if this person prefers A to B . An advantage of this criterion is that it provides a way of evaluating alternative social states that does not require interpersonal utility comparisons. Prof. D. W. Haslett Allen Buchanan , Ethics, Efficiency, and the Market (Totowa, NJ,...
Pareto optimal Reference library
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
...intervention in markets and for laissez-faire policies more generally. The concept of Pareto efficiency holds beyond market applications, however, and is useful in any situation in which interpersonal utility comparisons cannot be made. Because it requires only that individuals judge their own situations, it allows some (often limited) welfare comparison of outcomes without requiring the weighing of some individuals' gains against others'...
Social Comparison Reference library
Zlatan Krizan
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Social Psychology
...notes. In J. Suls & L. Wheeler (Eds.), Handbook of social comparison: Theory and research (pp. 123–140). New York: Plenum. Blanton, H. , Burkley, M. , & Burkley, E. (2014). Bonding, hiding and promoting: Three reactions to shared threat. In Z. Krizan & F. X. Gibbons (Eds.), Communal functions of social comparison (pp. 175–204). Brighton, NY: Psychology Press. Brewer, M. B. , & Weber, J. G. (1994). Self-evaluation effects of interpersonal versus intergroup social comparison. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 66 (2),...
Pareto principle Quick reference
A Dictionary of Sociology (4 ed.)
...these assumptions are empirically questionable, and probably embody value-judgements about well-being and satisfaction, they are somewhat controversial. It has also been argued that they constitute a rather weak basis for welfare judgements, since they explicitly forbid interpersonal comparisons, are concerned entirely with the subjective choices of individuals, and privilege the position occupied by the status quo (since any move from the status quo which was vetoed by one person would not be considered a Pareto-improvement). Most sociologists object to...
descriptive Quick reference
The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar (2 ed.)
... aims of usage books. See also descriptivism ; linguistics ; synchronic linguistics . 3. Semantics . (In some classifications of meaning . ) Descriptive meaning is similar to denotative , cognitive , or referential meaning . Contrasted with attitudinal and interpersonal meaning. Compare ideational . See also communicative meaning ; conative ; connotation ; emotive ; illocutionary meaning...
Arrow’s impossibility theorem Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...: if option A is preferred to option B and B to C in the social ranking then C cannot be preferred to A . The impossibility theorem proves that there is no aggregation process that simultaneously satisfies these five axioms. See also collective choice ; interpersonal comparisons ; voting...
ordinal utility Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...conveys no more information than that contained in the indifference curves. The observation that the utility from choice x is greater than the utility from choice y means only that x lies on a higher indifference curve than y . See also cardinal utility ; interpersonal comparisons...
ability-to-pay principle
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
...to pay taxes should contribute a larger amount. Horizontal equity states that taxpayers with the same ability to pay should contribute the same amount in taxes. To determine whether two taxpayers or families are similar in terms of ability to pay requires making interpersonal utility comparisons (i.e., comparing how much different people's welfare would decline if they had to give up the same amount of their income), a practice considered difficult, if not impossible, under most circumstances. The ability-to-pay principle is also complicated by the problem...
Social Comparison in Organizations Reference library
Abraham P. Buunk
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Industrial, Work, and Organizational Psychology
...Issues , 17 (4), 461–478. Jia, H. , Lu, J. , Xie, X. , & Huang, T. (2016). When your strength threatens me: Supervisors show less social comparison bias than subordinates . Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology , 89 (3), 568–587. Lam, C. K. , Van der Vegt, G. S. , Walter, F. , & Huang, X. (2011). Harming high performers: A social comparison perspective on interpersonal harming in work teams . Journal of Applied Psychology , 96 (3), 588–601. Linehan, N. , & Scullion, H. (2008). The development of female global managers:...
Pareto principle Quick reference
A Dictionary of Philosophy (3 ed.)
...better. The principle can also be stated in terms of wellbeing rather than preferences. Whether the Pareto principle delivers a social welfare function clearly depends on how unanimous the members of the society are. The great advantage of Pareto optimality is that no interpersonal comparisons of utility are needed in the application of the principle; it therefore avoids problems connected with the strength of preferences. The weakness of basing policy on the principle is that it tends to favour the status quo , since only one dissent is sufficient to prevent...
collective choice Quick reference
A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.)
...choice being made through a social welfare function that has individual utility levels as arguments. A collective choice is made by confronting the alternatives with the social welfare function and choosing the option yielding the highest level of welfare. If interpersonal comparisons of utility cannot be made then the construction of a social welfare function faces the same impossibility as any other collective choice process. See also paradox of voting ; voting...
