ABSTRACT
Modern social science, and especially in economics in its Samuelsonian forms, has become expert in simple human motivations, such as Max U and his simple consequences. Gatherings of humans are held together by language games. The games are empty, cheap talk, in a society of a tyrant surrounded by slaves. The philosopher Michael Stocker notes that a psychological egotist of the sort commended in modern economics could get the pleasure from the thing lovers do, have absorbing talks, make love, eat delicious meals, see interesting films, and so on. The behaviorism and positivism that often go along with utilitarianism are an unnecessary narrowing of the scientific evidence. Amartya Sen speaks of a duality in ethics between what he calls well-being, which is the utilitarian idea of people as pots into which pleasure is dumped, and agency. He speaks of an agency achievement that is not reducible to enhancement of well-being in a utilitarian sense.
