Jimbee68 » November 19th, 2016, 10:45 am wrote:Utilitarianism is the belief, the highest good, that we should all strive for, is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Happiness can be defined in terms of pure pleasure, though some theories allow in other factors too.
It is also not that rare of a theory for modern philosophers to propose. J. J. C. Smart was a Australian philosopher and defender of utilitarianism. He also was an ethical nihilist.
Anyways, I can think of at least one problem with utilitarianism. Why do these people think it is their job to make everyone happy? What if someone doesn't want to be happy? What if they want to be miserable? Shouldn't that be their choice too?
That actually, I think, is what is really what human beings and human societies should strive for. The freedom for every human being, to live their lives, and do as they wish, as long as it does not harm the rights or well-being of other humans, or sentient creatures.
I have also come up with a hypothetical example, to illustrate my point.
The year is 2553. And humans live in a perfect utopian society. No crime. No disease. No pain of any kind. But there is just one fly in the ointment, in all of this. The past. Humans didn't always live this way. War. Famine. The Spanish Inquisition. You get the idea. So the perfectly benevolent, totally utilitarian, government deals with this problem by rewriting history. Famine? Never happened. Spanish Inquisition? What Spanish Inquisition? That never happened either, as far as these utopians know.
But many humans believe it their right to know what the past was like. To know humans past mistakes, and learn from them. So what business does this allegedly utopian government have, in thinking they can rewrite history, just to spare our feelings?
I trust I have made my point. What do the rest of you think?
:)
Jimbee68 - you pose a very interesting question and one that resonates with me personally, for two reasons:
1) I'm a utilitarian, but haven't thought about the counterexamples enough to be convinced its the best way to do things (your question made me think a little more about it)
2) I agree with you that freedom of the individual so long as the individual doesn't prevent another individual from living the life they want to live is one of the most important things we should strive for.
I'm going to make an argument that these two things are compatible, and that utilitarianism actually is the right thing to strive for, and that the way to do it is through #2 above.
I'd say that most people are happiest when they have as much freedom as possible, and if each human respects other humans and sentient beings, and respects their desire to maintain their own freedom and way of life, we are through that methodology actually achieving the highest good for the most people. So I think your proposed way of life actually fulfills utilitarianism's highest goal in the best way possible (in fact its rule #3 of my life philosophy, where lower numbers are more important / take precedence, which is my best guidance on how to achieve utilitarianism).
I'd also say that in your hypothetical argument of a futuristic society, that if your proposed government's erasing of history was their way of 'hiding pain', that they were not actually achieving utilitarianism, because I think more people would feel pride at having overcome the harsh realities of the past and accomplished a society like the one you describe - with near absolute freedom for the individual, so long as it doesn't impose on another individual's freedom - where there is no disease, etc... knowledge of the history would actually make all of society happier and thus if this utopian government really had the populations best interests in mind, they would teach accurate history... The truth is, the truth is hard to hide, and it comes out one way or another eventually... People who try to hide the truth are not seeking utilitarianism, they're seeking to improve their own life at the expense of the truth... Utilitarianism comes from openness, honesty, transparency, respect, etc...
Does this resonate with you OP?
Thinker4Life