This paper explores the possibility of defining a non-utilitarian normative standard for assessments of welfare and deprivation. The paper contributes to this end in three ways. First, the paper formalises a key aspect of Prof. Sen’s critique of neoclassical welfare economics, regarding the assumption of consistent utility-maximisation in the revealed preference theory. Secondly, the paper explores alternative formulations of the axiom of revealed preferences that are consistent with Prof. Sen’s critique and proposes a set of intuitive assumptions to characterise the relation between observed choices and underlying preferences in the absence of consistent utility-maximisation. Finally, we use these to construct two alternative normative ran...
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