I’m very glad to see this, and I just want to add that there is a recent burst in the literature that is deepening or expanding the Harsanyi framework. There are a lot of powerful arguments for aggregation and separability, and it turns out that aggregation in one dimension generates aggregation in others. Broome’s Weighing Goods is an accessible(ish) place to start.
As you can see, this literature is pretty technical for now. But I am optimistic that in 10 years it will be the case both that the experts much better understand these arguments and that they are more widely known and appreciated.
I’m very glad to see this, and I just want to add that there is a recent burst in the literature that is deepening or expanding the Harsanyi framework. There are a lot of powerful arguments for aggregation and separability, and it turns out that aggregation in one dimension generates aggregation in others. Broome’s Weighing Goods is an accessible(ish) place to start.
Fleurbaey (2009): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165176509002894
McCarthy et al (2020): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304406820300045?via%3Dihub
A paper of mine with Zuber, about risk and variable population together: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xwxAkZlOeqc4iMeXNhBFipB6bTmJR6UN/view
As you can see, this literature is pretty technical for now. But I am optimistic that in 10 years it will be the case both that the experts much better understand these arguments and that they are more widely known and appreciated.
Johan Gustafsson is also working in this space. This link isn’t about Harsanyi-style arguments, but is another nice path up the mountain: https://johanegustafsson.net/papers/utilitarianism-without-moral-aggregation.pdf
Thanks, this is appreciated!