A Preference for an Aggregate Measure: A Reply to Sagoff

Sagoff believes that welfare has meaning beyond its relation to preference, i.e., that there is a “substantive and independently defined conception of welfare” that is measured by KH but not by KHM. In contrast, we find that the foundation of both KH and KHM is not welfare, which is not measurable, but individual preference. As if in anticipation of this reply, Sagoff asks, “Why should preference count?” Our answer, detailed below, is faithful to the liberal tradition of respect for individual choice, and rejects the idea that there is some organic theory of the state that should be the model on which normative issues are decided.