The chapter presents Rosmini’s detailed description of three main different versions of utilitarianism – empiricist or sensist, sentimentalist and eudemonist – and also shows the consequences that these different versions of utilitarianism bring to the conception of society, law, politics and economic science.
The chapter presents an extensive revision of the utilitarian assumptions that are implicit in economic science – in the socializing and statist version as well as in the liberal and individualist one. According to Rosmini, this implicit utilitarian conception is not due to political economy as a science but to the philosophical influence of utilitarian theories suffered by many economists. The ... [Show full abstract] heart of the utilitarian influence in modern economic science lies, according to Rosmini, in the conception of human action as a behavior always oriented towards maximization of utility. The chapter presents Rosmini’s detailed description of three main different versions of utilitarianism – empiricist or sensist, sentimentalist and eudemonist – and also shows the consequences that these different versions of utilitarianism bring to the conception of society, law, politics and economic science.