Generalized social welfare functionals: Welfarism, morality and liberty (Q1083001)

The concept of a generalized social welfare functional (GSWFL) is introduced to permit the integration of appealing moral principles into the traditional Pareto-inclusive welfarist framework of utilitarianism and welfare economics. Attention is focused on a so-called ''liberal utilitarian'' GSWFL which incorporates libertarian rights within the utilitarian calculus in a fashion reminiscent of J. S. Mill's philosphy. It is suggested that welfarist social choice theory may be a far more powerful and flexible tool of political and economic analysis than is commonly thought.