Social Choice Theory: Cost-Benefit Analysis and Beyond

2 credits · Law School

Social choice theory is the body of scholarship—beginning with Kenneth Arrow's famous 'impossibility theorem'—that systematically investigates the relation between individuals' preferences (or more generally, individual well-being) and societal decisions. This literature has much relevance to law, since it provides a foundation for understanding cost-benefit analysis and other policy analysis methodologies. I intend to offer a non-technical introduction to social choice theory, and one that will draw upon relevant philosophical literatures—in particular, philosophical scholarship concerning well-being and inequality.