ABSTRACT
The first ethical premise to which society must subscribe if the economist's use of V as a ranking device is to be upheld is that the welfare of each person in society is to count, and nothing more is to count. The phrase “nothing more is to count” is appended to the sentence in order to obviate any “transcendental” or “holistic” interpretation of society's welfare. In other words, no abstraction such as the “general good” and no such entity as the “state” is to be considered in addition to the welfare of the individuals comprising society. This provision accords with the philosophic position sometimes referred to as methodological individualism, which is associated historically with the rise of liberalism.
