Thinking and Deciding

424 FAIRNESS AND JUSTICE
people for things that they and others like them would do anyway, regardless of the
punishment. More generally, utilitarians might take “responsible” to mean “sensitive
to reward and punishment.” It is not clear how most people use the term, however,
and experiments that ask subjects about responsibility are difficult to interpret.
Tastes and needs. If we have six avocados and six grapefruits, and you like grapefruits
but hate avocados, and I like avocados but hate grapefruits, then we maximize
our utility by giving all the avocados to me and all the grapefruits to you. This plan
maximizes utility plan even if we have only three grapefruits, or none. This principle
of “tastes” works against equal division of goods. It also applies to “needs.” If my
desire for avocados depends on a vitamin deficiency, rather than my liking their taste,
the principle is unchanged. One institution that satisfies this principle is the market.
People can use money to buy what they particularly want. Even without money, they
can trade.
Envy. A reason for equal division, especially among people who are similar in
some way, is to avoid envy, which sometimes amounts to a desire to restore equity
by hurting those who have more than they seem to deserve (Elster, 1989b; Frank,
1988; Sabini and Silver, 1981). People seem to evaluate their situation by comparing
what they get to what those around them get. Students who get Bs are often envious
of those who get As, especially if the A is seen as a reward for being a teacher’s pet.
Envy is (like anger) a moral emotion. It arises out of beliefs about how goods
should be distributed (although these beliefs may also be distorted by self-deception
based on self-interest). Thus, it may be possible to avoid envy by convincing those
who are envious that they and others have received what is fair. As we shall see,
though, people’s view of fairness may depend on what is good for them. The B
student who does not talk in class may think it unfair that class discussion was part
of the grade. Avoidance of envy can conflict with incentive: Some students say that
they try not to get good grades for fear of becoming unpopular.
Expectations and rights. Groups or governments often set up rules of distribution
in order to solve practical problems. For example, governments have tax laws and
laws concerning criminal penalties. Such rules are clearly inferior to what could be
achieved by an all-knowing and benevolent dictator sending just the right tax bill to
every household, taking into account everyone’s utilities for money. But the rules are
often close to the best that can be achieved in practice, far better than anarchy. Once
stated, the rules define rights and expectations that people use for making decisions.
If the rules are violated, people lose confidence in them, and the benefits of the
rules over anarchy are lost. For example, part of the incentive system deals with
inheritance laws: People work, in part, to provide for their survivors after their death.
A sudden and large increase in inheritance taxes might make people more reluctant to
save money, even if the increase were repealed the next year. Many of the rules that
we call “rights” have this character too, such as the rights associated with property.
From a utilitarian point of view, these are not absolutes, and cultures could be (and
are) designed without them, but removing them can have a large cost in stability.
need to be punished more severely in order to deter others from taking the same risk.