 The first question is whether the utility function corresponds to a real-world quantity, such as strength of desire or perceived desirability or perceived goodness, or whether it is merely a convenient way to represent preferences. The former view is known as psychological realism (Buchak 2013) or weak realism (Zynda 2000), and is held by Allais (1953) and Weirich (2008, 2020), for example. The latter view is known as formalism (Hansson 1988), operationalism (Bérmudez 2009), or the representational viewpoint (Wakker 1994), and is particularly associated with decision theorists from the mid-twentieth century (Luce &amp; Raiffa 1957, Arrow 1951, Harsanyi 1977), and with contemporary economists.