日期:2026/02/07   IAE 

Charity Economicism

The Canonical Utility Function

1. Canonical Proposition

In Charity Economicism, utility is not defined as monetary income, aggregate output, or individual preference satisfaction.
Instead, utility is defined as the sustainable expansion of the overall quality of life of living beings.

This definition departs fundamentally from conventional economic utility, which typically relies on income-based proxies or preference-revealed measures, and repositions utility as a systemic and civilizational construct.

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2. Definition of the Total Utility Function

The total utility function in Charity Economicism is formally specified as a multiplicative system:

 

$$U = f(L \times S \times V)$$$$U=f(L\times S\times V)$$

where:

• $L$$L$ (Living Utility) denotes the quality of everyday life experienced by individuals, encompassing material sufficiency, dignity, psychological security, social connectedness, and meaningful participation in social processes.

• $S$$S$ (Survival Utility) denotes the capacity of the socio-economic system to sustain life under conditions of risk, shock, and uncertainty, including resilience, accessibility of basic protections, and intergenerational continuity.

• $V$$V$ (Life Utility) denotes the existential dimension of utility, referring to the extent to which life is experienced as meaningful, purposeful, capable of moral and spiritual growth, and embedded within a broader civilizational trajectory.

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3. Structural Properties

The multiplicative structure of the utility function implies the following properties:

1. Non-substitutability
   No single dimension can compensate for the collapse of another. If any component approaches zero, total utility converges to zero.

2. Rejection of compensatory maximization
   Increases in one dimension cannot ethically or analytically justify the degradation of another dimension, even if aggregate output or efficiency rises.

3. Exclusion of harmful equilibria
   States characterized by wealth accumulation or efficiency gains achieved through the erosion of dignity, survival security, or existential meaning are excluded from the feasible utility domain.

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4. Civilizational Implication

Under Charity Economicism, utility maximization does not correspond to wealth maximization or preference aggregation. Instead, it is defined as:

The capacity of a system to enable a greater number of lives, over longer temporal horizons, to coexist in conditions of increasing dignity, resilience, and existential meaning.

This formulation establishes the canonical utility function of Charity Economicism and provides a foundational framework for subsequent work on measurement systems, institutional design, and civilization-scale economic governance.

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Notes on Positioning (for submission)

• Compatible with journals in:
  Ecological Economics, Cambridge Journal of Economics, World Development, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Futures, Sustainability Science.

• Distinct from:
  utilitarian welfare economics, income-based development metrics, and purely preference-based utility models.

• Bridges:
  economics, moral philosophy, systems theory, sustainability, and civilizational studies.