Does utilitarianism imply materialism?
Utilitarianism has for one component epicurianism, which is a materialist philosophy, and also consequentialism which cares about real life consequences of actions.
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Utilitarianism is a consequence of materialism, not vice versa.– David GudemanSep 19 at 17:25
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There are utilitarians that reject Epicurean physics (almost nobody today subscribes to Epicurean physics).– HokonSep 19 at 20:15
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@DavidGudeman "Utilitarianism is a consequence of materialism, not vice versa." Could you explain further?– StarckmanSep 22 at 3:02
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Obligations, if they exist as real things are immaterial, so materialism implies that they don't exist. Utilitarianism is a common way of simulating them a material world. By contrast, one can be a non-materialist about many things and still be a utilitarian with respect to obligations. So one can be a utilitarian without being a materialist, but on the other hand, I suppose one can be a materialist without being a utilitarian because there are alternative material accounts of obligations. I guess neither implies the other.– David GudemanSep 22 at 3:12
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I guess you could also be a theist and still subscribe to utilitarianism because bringing people to god is the greatest good so bringing as many people to god is the greatest good for the greatest number– AnnikaOct 18 at 23:52
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