INTERPERSONAL DEPENDENCY OF PREFERENCES

Standard decision theoretic models disregard the phenomenon of interpe rsonal dependency of preferences. In this paper it is argued that inte rpersonal dependency of preferences is a serious challenge for standar d utility theory. First we sketch the more philosophical aspects of th e problem and then, using a simple, formal model for the two-person ca se, we show that interpersonal dependency of preferences generally res ults in indeterminacy of preferences (resp. of subjective utility).