So pushpin, a simple childrens game with what we call thumbtacks being pushed on a hat, is as great as complex poetry if it makes people happy.
This is a core tenet of modern economics. Things only have economic value if they fulfill someones subjective tastes. There is no objective value in economics except what provides utility. Morality is a different argument. We're just dealing with goods and services.
Now economists in the past disagreed with this. Jeremy Bentham's famous pupil John Stuart Mill (an economist also in our current reading) said that it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. That means it's better to pursue more intellectual ends and be confused than to be content with a simple mind. So a product like a cheeseburger is not as good to someone who hates poetry as Shakespeare? Certainly they would beg to differ.
Mr. Bentham
Mr. Mill, with the book from which his statement of Socrates and the Pig hails.
hmmm good food for thought, though i would have to disagree and differentiate slightly. I think the utility something offers is distinct from its worth. A crappy apartment might offer utility (roof over my head) but not preferred or appreciated for its value, hence being of low worth. I think utility could be better defined as offering mobility. An encyclopedia may not provide immediate gratification for all, but offers the potential of mobility in that new knowledge may enhance career opportunities, etc.
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