Abstract
What are your rights? Should you or should society determine whether you can wear a brown or blue shirt to class? Let's be more provocative: should you or should society decide whether you can read that raunchy article? The answers seem obvious-at least they did until a quarter of a century ago when A. Sen ([18], [19]) analyzed this question with an axiomatic formulation. His highly disturbing mathematical conclusion casts doubt on the rights of individuals to make even seemingly trivial decisions of this type. How can Sen's conclusion, which directly confronts our daily actions, be correct? As his proof is accurate, it is understandable that his disquieting assertion continues to concern experts from mathematics, economics, philosophy, and political science, among other areas. While the response has created a sizable literature, none of the papers provides a way out. Instead, the problem has become similar to a doll made of fresh tar; the more it is embraced, the greater the mess that is discovered. In this essay, a surprisingly elementary explanation of Sen's problem is offered. (See [16] for a complete description.) It only uses only the kind of introductoiy mathematics too many students try to skip due to persistent rumors that this busy work might convert brain matter into mushy oatmeal. Let me explain.
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