<p>Gérard Debreu precisely defined the conditions required for a preference ordering to be representable by a utility function.</p>

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2019-03-08T18:31:30.703Z
Check out Cantor and Birkhoff representation
High GPA
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2019-03-08T16:15:05.930Z
2019-03-08T16:15:05.930Z
S. Rioch
<p>Swiss mathematician Gabriel Cramer suggested taking the expected utility of money to resolve the St Petersburg paradox in 1728, and Daniel Bernoulli did the same 10 years later.  Cramer took <span class="math-container">$u(x)=\sqrt x$</span> and Bernoulli took <span class="math-container">$u(x)=\log(x)$</span></p>

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2024-08-30T20:59:07.700Z
2024-08-30T20:59:26.270Z
2024-08-30T20:59:26.270Z
user49778
<p>Not to be too obvious about it, but couldn't you just say Jeremy Bentham? The calculus of choosing bundles that maximizes pleasure specified a very simple utility function in words. </p>

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2020-11-17T21:29:28.520Z
Yes I think he is the one. A social scientist and a philosopher.
High GPA
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2020-11-17T21:42:06.300Z
Quesnay might be a little earlier than Bentham. See https://www.jstor.org/stable/40325751?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
High GPA
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-03T02:45:53.530Z
2019-04-03T02:45:53.530Z
bdempe
<p>To my knowledge, the idea of representing weak-order with a function dates back to Cantor. So my questions are: </p>

<p>1) Was Cantor the first person to rigorize these kinds of representation? </p>

<p>2) Were there anyone in the ancient world who (though not rigorously) developed the idea of representing social choice or preference by a function? </p>

<mathematical-economics><utility><history><history-economic-thought><economic-history>
Who was the inventor of Utility function?
High GPA
# Who was the inventor of Utility function?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-12)

To my knowledge, the idea of representing weak-order with a function dates back to Cantor. So my questions are:

1) Was Cantor the first person to rigorize these kinds of representation?

2) Were there anyone in the ancient world who (though not rigorously) developed the idea of representing social choice or preference by a function?

**Tags:** mathematical-economics, utility, history, history-economic-thought, economic-history


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-04-03. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Not to be too obvious about it, but couldn't you just say Jeremy Bentham? The calculus of choosing bundles that maximizes pleasure specified a very simple utility function in words.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes I think he is the one. A social scientist and a philosopher.  
> **username_0**: Quesnay might be a little earlier than Bentham. See https://www.jstor.org/stable/40325751?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2019-03-08. Score: 1

Gérard Debreu precisely defined the conditions required for a preference ordering to be representable by a utility function.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Check out Cantor and Birkhoff representation  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2024-08-30. Score: 0

Swiss mathematician Gabriel Cramer suggested taking the expected utility of money to resolve the St Petersburg paradox in 1728, and Daniel Bernoulli did the same 10 years later. Cramer took $u(x)=\sqrt x$ and Bernoulli took $u(x)=\log(x)$


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