A Study on the Application of the Moral Theory of Consequentialism in the Social Welfare Function of Utilitarians

Introduction and Objectives: Some economic policies, such as income policies, are expected to create changes in the distribution or redistribution of income, which are called welfare needs, such as improving the condition of the poor and reducing the wealth and income of some people in society. Welfare requirements are discussed and investigated in economic knowledge related to social welfare. These requirements are completely intertwined with moral values ​​and theories.
The history of using moral theories in welfare economics goes back to Pigou's initiative to introduce Bentham's utilitarianism into his theory of welfare economics. After him, doubts were raised about the competence of economists to enter the normative realm and judgment about welfare situations, as a result of which some tried to free the area of ​​welf  are economics from normative discussions by focusing on Pareto optimality; but by inventing the social welfare function, Bergson showed that it is possible to introduce normative ethics theories into welfare economics in such a way that it does not harm its science and can support normative welfare policies. One of the most important and famous theories of normative ethics borrowed from the philosophy of ethics to be included in the function of social welfare is the theory of utilitarianism. This moral theory has been accepted as the main subject in the welfare function of utilitarians, but despite the application of the utilitarian moral point of view in the social welfare function, the relationship between this moral issue and the social welfare function is still not very clear; therefore, it seems that clarifying the concepts and the characteristics of the utilitarian moral theory and the social welfare function, as an introduction and explanation of how to apply the utilitarian moral theory in the utilitarian welfare function, is one of the essential topics that will be examined in this essay.
Method: Social welfare functions are presented as mathematical functions in related works; on the other hand, utilitarianism is described descriptively as a normative theory in moral philosophy. This duality in the method made it very difficult for the author to present an article about "the investigation of the application of the moral theory of consequentialism in the social welfare function of utilitarians". Therefore, inevitably, the main elements of the social welfare function had to be changed from a mathematical expression to a descriptive one, so that uniformity in the method would occur, and as a result, it would be possible to communicate between these two different issues. After changing the mathematical expression to a descriptive one, with analysis and accuracy in the concepts of social welfare function as an economic topic and utilitarianism as a theory in normative ethics, the relationship between the two became possible and the discussion about this application was completed.
Results: There are many ambiguities in the research about the application of consequentialism in the utilitarian social welfare function. This article clears the most important ambiguities as follows:
* Social welfare functions are directly related to utilitarianism, in which the criterion of the goodness of an action is the result that reaches the general human beings, and since consequentialism is a broader concept than utilitarianism and ultimatum is a broader concept than consequentialism, it is indirectly related to both.
* Social welfare functions are normative and are related to normative ethics. The independent variable in these functions consists of the welfare status of all members of the society. The dependent variable is the desired "social welfare" in a society, which must be provided for the society. The relationship in this function states: how much change in the social welfare will be caused by any change in the existing welfare status of the members of the society.
* Utilitarianism in Pigou's welfare economy can act as utilitarianism; but at the same time, considering the rule of diminishing final utility, he has turned to the rule of utilitarianism.
* Act utilitarianism, as opposed to rule utilitarianism, can be interpreted both in an egoistic way and in otheristic and holistic ways.
* In moral philosophy, utilitarianism refers to its holistic type. Holistic utilitarianism deals with the well-being of all members of society or related intelligent people; of course, considering the welfare of the whole society does not mean that there is no need to consider the welfare of individual people at all.
* The function of social welfare is different from the function of happiness. The function of happiness in utilitarianism is individual, but the utilitarian social welfare function deals with changes in the preferences of all members of the society, and the agent is not taken into account.
Discussion and Conclusions: The application of the moral theory of consequentialism in the social welfare function of utilitarians is explained in this way that in the dependent variable of this function, the welfare of the whole society is introduced as a valuable and moral goal, and in this way, it will be related to the moral theory of utilitarianism in moral philosophy. As a result of this relationship, the social welfare function of utilitarians is normative. In this case, it is recommended to the policymakers and implementers of the welfare policies of the society to create it for the society. In this function, the moral action is that the utility of poor people should be increased, but the moral justification of the goodness of such an increase is that by increasing the utility of the poor, the utility of the whole increases more.
The independent variable and the relationship between the independent and dependent variables in each welfare function do not express the moral goal; rather, their relationship with ethics depends on the dependent variable. For example, in the welfare functions of utilitarians, it is said that the welfare of poor people (independent variable) should be morally increased. This statement is based on the fact that the function relationship states: that increasing the welfare of poor people increases the total welfare that is related to the dependent variable more than when the welfare of the rich increases.
Acknowledgment: We would like to thank Dr. Gilak as the respected supervisor of this project, and Dr. Alizadeh and Dr. Rafiei Atani as critics, as well as the respected officials of the Research Institute of the Hawzah and University, who made this research possible with their great help.