The Theory of Justice and Profit Maximization

Abstract

At present, all existing so-called theories of justice, except only for utilitarianism, divide the history of humanity into long years of hopeless night and a few minutes of long-awaited dawn. Any theory must be disregarded if it assumes that for centuries people have come to terms with their lack of freedom only because of mental limitations or an unusual strictness of the ruling elite. Of course, 500 or 1000 years ago, as is the case today, many people were dissatisfied with their position in society, but nevertheless the majority of the population of Ancient Egypt, for example, or the Roman Empire considered the established order to be entirely justified. Therefore any theories that are not able to explain historical changes to people’s perceptions of justice must undoubtedly be deemed unrealistic and incorrect. Utilitarianism does not have this disadvantage, but it does have another well-known defect which has to do with the use of the strange and immeasurable concept of utility. It is rather difficult to give a logical explanation of how a concept that is so actively criticized and despised by many economists can continue to be the foundation of all economic science. In my opinion, to this day there have never been any significant barriers preventing the use of personal profit as the primary motive for human behaviour. This will not only restore the position of utilitarianism so undeservedly lost, but also provide an opportunity to solve a number of theoretical issues and will also fill with optimism the conclusions that follow from Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem.