Rejoinder to Block on indifference

This paper is a rejoinder to Block’s (2022) response to Wysocki’s (Wysocki, 2021) essay on Nozick’s challenge leveled at Austrian economics. Instead of merely reiterating Wysocki’s (Wysocki, 2021) position, we try to highlight that the Blockean account of indifference and preference entails the views which are otherwise unwelcome, given his unyielding commitment to Austrian economics at large. To wit, we argue that Block’s theory still fails to make sense of the law of diminishing marginal utility. Moreover, his extreme idea of choice, sadly, appears to jettison characteristically Austrian subjectivism and thus perilously verges on behaviourism. We conclude that, given all these predicaments the Blockean account is caught in, Block himself (qua Austrian) has a reason to embrace the Hoppean theory of preference and indifference.

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Publication Details

Journal
Philosophical Problems in Science (Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce)
Published
2024-12-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59203/zfn.76.624
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Auction Theory and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.98

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article

Rejoinder to Block on indifference

Igor Wysocki
2 citations
Philosophical Problems in Science (Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce)
Auction Theory and Applications
0.98
article

Rejoinder to Block on indifference

Igor Wysocki
article en
2 citations

Abstract

This paper is a rejoinder to Block’s (2022) response to Wysocki’s (Wysocki, 2021) essay on Nozick’s challenge leveled at Austrian economics. Instead of merely reiterating Wysocki’s (Wysocki, 2021) position, we try to highlight that the Blockean account of indifference and preference entails the views which are otherwise unwelcome, given his unyielding commitment to Austrian economics at large. To wit, we argue that Block’s theory still fails to make sense of the law of diminishing marginal utility. Moreover, his extreme idea of choice, sadly, appears to jettison characteristically Austrian subjectivism and thus perilously verges on behaviourism. We conclude that, given all these predicaments the Blockean account is caught in, Block himself (qua Austrian) has a reason to embrace the Hoppean theory of preference and indifference.

Philosophical Problems in Science (Zagadnienia Filozoficzne w Nauce)(76)
Nicolaus Copernicus University (PL)
Narodowym Centrum Nauki
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Auction Theory and Applications
0.98
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