The ex ante Pareto principle has an intuitive pull, and it has been a principle of central importance since Harsanyi’s defence of utilitarianism (to be found in e.g. Harsanyi, Rational behaviour and bargaining equilibrium in games and social situations. CUP, Cambridge, 1977). The principle has been used to criticize and refine a range of positions in welfare economics, including egalitarianism and prioritarianism. But this principle faces a serious problem. I have argued elsewhere (Mahtani, J Philos 114(6):303-323 2017) that the concept of ex ante Pareto superiority is not well defined, because its application in a choice situation concerning a fixed population can depend on how the members of that population are designated. I show in this paper that in almost all cases of policy choice, there will be numerous sets of rival designators for the same fixed population. I explore two ways that we might complete the definition of ex ante Pareto superiority. I call these the ‘supervaluationist’ reading and the ‘subvaluationist’ reading. I reject the subvaluationist reading as uncharitable, and argue that the supervaluationist reading is the most promising interpretation of the ex ante Pareto principle. I end by exploring some of the implications of this principle for prioritarianism and egalitarianism.

中文翻译：

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弗雷格的谜题和事前帕累托原则

事前帕累托原则具有直观的吸引力，自从 Harsanyi 为功利主义辩护以来，它一直是一项具有核心重要性的原则（可参见 Harsanyi，游戏和社会情境中的理性行为和讨价还价均衡。CUP，剑桥，1977 年）。该原则已被用来批评和完善福利经济学中的一系列立场，包括平等主义和优先主义。但是这个原则面临着一个严重的问题。我在其他地方（Mahtani，J Philos 114（6）：303-323 2017）认为事前帕累托优势的概念没有明确定义，因为它在涉及固定人口的选择情况下的应用可能取决于成员如何该人口被指定。我在这篇论文中表明，在几乎所有的政策选择案例中，对于相同的固定人口，将会有许多组相互竞争的指示符。我探索了两种方式来完成事前帕累托优势的定义。我称这些为“超估价主义”解读和“次估价主义”解读。我拒绝低价值主义解读是无情的，并认为超价值主义解读是对事前帕累托原则最有希望的解释。最后，我探讨了这一原则对优先主义和平等主义的一些影响。并认为超估价解读是对事前帕累托原则最有希望的解释。最后，我探讨了这一原则对优先主义和平等主义的一些影响。并认为超估价解读是对事前帕累托原则最有希望的解释。最后，我探讨了这一原则对优先主义和平等主义的一些影响。