Utilitarianism and Anti-Utilitarianism
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Citations
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The ethical dilemmas of risky decisions
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References
The Theory of Political Economy
Evolution of the social contract
Moral Thinking: Its Levels, Methods and Point
Welfare, happiness, and ethics
Related Papers (5)
Frequently Asked Questions (11)
Q2. What is the famous alternative to utilitarianism?
Rawlsian political liberalism, in which fairness is prior to goodness, constitutes the most famous alternative to utilitarianism.
Q3. Who defended the link between individual morality and the general good?
The proto-history of utilitarianism goes back to the British moralists of the 17th century, including Richard Cumberland and John Gay, who defended the link between individual morality and the general good.
Q4. Who held that a kind of commonsense morality is generally compatible with public utility?
The early utilitarians were influenced by the materialist Helvétius, who claimed that interest dictates judgments, and stressed the importance of education in the formation of human souls; as well as by Francis Hutcheson and David Hume, who held that a kind of commonsense morality is generally compatible with public utility.
Q5. What is the common definition of utility?
Most modern contributions to utilitarianism retain the preference model of utility, such that utility is simply the satisfaction of preferences.
Q6. What is the purpose of Mill’s utilitarianism?
John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism (1806-1873), influenced by perfectionist intuitions, is also meant to answer objections such as those levelled at Bentham’s theory.
Q7. What is the primary requirement of utilitarianism?
A primary requirement is that the spectator should be impartial, that is to say, he should not favor the situation of one individual over another, whatever their differences.
Q8. What is the main argument for criticizing the hedonist approach in utilitarianism?
though, made an important case for criticizing the hedonist approach in utilitarianism: a problem of “dualism of practical reason” occurs when it seems better on utilitarian grounds to sacrifice one’s own interests for others’.
Q9. What is the main argument against act-utilitarianism?
Against act-utilitarianism, however, some have complained that it is unable to guide practical decision making: because of lack of information, because gathering such information would be too tedious and costly, because mistakes are more likely to be made when there are so many calculations to be done, and because existing rules or norms could not be used to build expectations nor in particular to trust others’ promises.
Q10. What is the common use of the ‘strong preference’ model?
The ‘strong preference’ model is the one that is most commonly used in social sciences: individual preferences are revealed in the actual choices of individuals.
Q11. What is the main argument for the critique of utilitarianism?
Some utilitarians are comfortable with this criticism since it implies, after all, an increase in the sum of utilities: the decisions of the businessman, they say, may provide more jobs and wealth in a wide area, increasing the welfare of numerous families in a way likely to compensate for the low quality of the children’s lives.