A Unified Derivation of Classical Subjective Expected Utility Models through Cardinal Utility

Classical foundations of expected utility were provided by Ramsey, de Finetti, von Neumann & Morgenstern, Anscombe & Aumann, and others. These foundations describe preference conditions to capture the empirical content of expected utility. The assumed preference conditions, however, vary among the models and a unifying idea is not readily transparent. Providing such a unifying idea is the purpose of this paper. The mentioned derivations have in common that a cardinal utility index for outcomes, independent of the states and probabilities, can be derived. Characterizing that feature provides the unifying idea of the mentioned models.