Can utility be objective?

A utility function is interesting from the philosophical point of view only if it is subjective. If the utility function can be effectively measured in an objective and scientific way then it constitutes, in part, an objective rescaling of the real line, from currency units to utility units. An objective utility function also assigns value to each non-monetary reward, such as friendship. On the mathematical side, an objective utility function can play a significant role in finding optimal decisions, but there is nothing interesting about it from the philosophical point of view. An objective utility is like any other objectively measurable quantity - mass, energy or temperature.

There are two obvious problems with objective utility functions. First, no solid scientific methods of measuring objective utility functions were developed. There are no such methods for measuring the utility of financial rewards and there are none for measuring non-monetary rewards, such as friendship. The second problem with objective utility functions is their relationship with human feelings. It is not clear why people should maximize objective utility (it there is such a thing) if it does not agree with their subjective feelings. Only some people are willing to subordinate their feelings to objective calculations. And there is no obvious reason why people who try to maximize their subjective satisfaction are irrational.

If the utility function is objective, it may have heavy tails, for example, exponential or super-exponential tails. We cannot eliminate this possibility before measuring the utility function. It is very hard to determine values of the utility function in the tails. Hence, all calculations based on the expected value of (objective) utility are highly suspect.