Sunday, May 31, 2009
Søren Kierkegaard, Divorce, and Utility
Kierkegarrd opined that constant pleasure is no pleasure at all [In the bottomless ocean of pleasure I have sounded in vain for a place to cast my anchor.] Since 2 of 3 marriages end in divorce, I was wondering if marriage was subject to diminishing marginal utility. As couples spend more and more time together, they get less and less pleasure. In fact, the couple would consume love until the marginal cost and marginal benefit are equal--at zero. Then they divorce.
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This sounds like Becker's studies on the economics of the family (marriage, divorce, having children). The term I use to describe the utility gained from these life events is 'psychic income.'
ReplyDeleteI've done some searching and the earliest reference to the term I've found is the economist Frank Fetter in 1915.
I don't think this is the first time I've seen you use one of Kierkegaard's ideas. I once read a book that had a chapter devoted to his philosophy, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.
ReplyDeletekevin, you are right...i have been investigating the role of philosphy in economics...thanks for your interest...
ReplyDeletePerhaps marriage, and the many things it entails, can be summed up into a Battle of the Sexes game as presented in game theory. Instead of coming to some sort of randomly selected equilibrium, or a compromise, the husband or wife exploits the compromising of the spouse which leads to unhappiness/divorce, which is evident in BoS games (the pure strategy and mixed strategy Nash equilibrium are inefficient).
ReplyDeletePerhaps the 1/3 of marriages that do last share information and reach compromises.
Or maybe they just stick it out and are unhappy.