Questions tagged [utilitarianism]
The ethical theory that answers all questions of what to do, what to admire, or how to live, in terms of maximizing *utility* or happiness.
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Is there a reason that utilitarianism is the “default” moral system of thinking for many humans, and if so, why?
Over the past few centuries a shift has been seen, from the likes of strict adherence to Christianity (at least, in Europe) to greater reliance on science, etc. as observed by Friedrich Nietzsche. ...
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According to utilitarianism, are the only moral actions the ones that maximize utility? What about actions that increase utility, but not maximally?
Whenever I look at a definition of utilitarianism, what I see is that it only seems to prescribe actions that maximize utility.
Suppose that, for a given junction, you have a set of possible actions ...
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Why can't consequentialist morality be “fixed” to accommodate family/friend considerations by enlarging the definition of happiness?
This is cited as one of the first objection to consequentialism here (https://www.britannica.com/topic/ethics-philosophy/Objections-to-consequentialism):
"It is also claimed that, because ...
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Multidimensional utility
I'm an outsider to the philosophy community (I'm a mathematics PhD student), and I'm curious of whether the following critique has been addressed. During some superficial discussions I had on ...
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Is this moral philosophy consequentialist or deontological?
I'm working on an article in which I attempt to defend a "unified" theory of morality that takes insights from all the most popular moral theories in Western philosophy. The main principle ...
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Which distribution is allowed by Rawls's difference principle?
Let's say we have the following different distributions of monetary wealth possible for a society. Here, LAG := Least Advantaged Group, OG := Ordinary group, MAG := Most Advantaged Group.
Type
LAG
OG
...
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Is the tyrannicide perpetrated by William Tell morally legitimate?
I have recently been reading Friedrich Schiller's fantastic Drama William Tell, in which he not only relates the folkloric-mythological origin of Switzerland upon its liberation from the yoke of the ...
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137 views
Under utilitarianism, does drug dealing become moral if you're good enough at it?
A simple utilitarian argument against drug dealing is that while the user may experience a great deal of pleasure, their family and friends are hurt more. But does this argument hold once a critical ...
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Is it possible for morality to exist?
I used to be fairly convinced that morality existed - because of the numerous different ethical systems available, I was sure that even if I did not know which system was right, that morality, in some,...
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What is a negative side of a utilitarian that focuses on what is expected to happen?
I know that we can divide utilitarians into two groups, those that focus on what was expected to happen and those that focus on what actually happened, and that most fall into the latter group. ...
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Does rule utilitarianism fail to be effectively utilitarian?
So from what I understand, rule utilitarianism as a doctrine states that in order to maximize utility, we should evaluate actions based on rules that, if we accept them, would maximize utility in the ...
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For Mill, is all speech ethical so long as it doesnt conflict with the harm principle?
I understand that Mill was a big advocate of freedom of speech and expression.
Im just wondering whether he just saw that as state policy or if he thought that on an individual level all speech is ...
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Utilitarianism and naturalistic fallacy [closed]
Does utilitarianism commit the naturalistic fallacy? Can someone tell with respect to act and rule utilitarianism?
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Is there any act utilitarian philosopher?
According to the Greatest Happiness Principle […] the ultimate end […]
is an existence exempt as far as possible from pain, and as rich as
possible in enjoyments, both in point of quantity and quality;...
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How real is the distinction Durkheim makes between the 2 forms of individualism in his 'Individualism and the Intellectuals'?
A summary from Britannica:
The French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) identified two types
of individualism: the utilitarian egoism of the English sociologist
and philosopher Herbert Spencer (...
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Queue jumping vs (Subjectivism, relativism, utilitarianism)
You are standing in the queue to take the elevator. X who arrived later than you ignore the queue and pushes ahead to enter the elevator. You try to stop him and convince him that breaking the queue ...
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Is Utilitarianism based on Calculations or Calculus?
I have been going through the Justice lecture series by Harvard and noticed one thing whenever there was reference to Utilitarianism and it's related phenomena like cost-benefit analysis the word ...
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What is an utilitarianism answer to the conflict between self-interest and the common good?
As far as I understand, if we accept utilitarianism ethics, then the right thing to do is to maximize the happiness of everyone, including all sentient beings. But this does not leave any space for ...
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Maximizing expected value - “triple or nothing” on a fair bet
The "triple-or-nothing paradox" is that a game where I expect to increase my money (on average) at each stage ends up bankrupting me with probability 1 if I play long enough. However, the ...
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Is there any consequentialist moral theory aside from utilitarianism?
I've noticed that when I read about ethics, "consequentialism" is sometimes described as a broader category of which utilitarianism is only an example, but sometimes the word seems to be ...
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159 views
Is corruption always morally wrong?
The question is whether corruption is always morally/ethically wrong.
To set up the premise, let me start with some examples. In third world countries (I'm from one myself, so I can speak from ...
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What's the meaning of “Intermediate Generalizations”?
The phrase is from John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism.
The context is:
"The corollaries from the principle of utility, like the precepts of every practical art, admit of indefinite improvement, ...
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What motivated Kant to focus on a relatively small set of principles when discussing morality?
Let’s use the famous example. Kant argues that lying is categorically bad because, even though lying can be good in narrow circumstances, one cannot will lying to be okay in a universal way.
However, ...
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Why isn’t the Kantian categorical imperative equal to utilitarian principles with additional constraints?
This is how I understood the categorical imperative: an action is moral if it, when universalized (the constraint), is good (utilitarian).
The need to universalize can be seen as a constraint: that is,...
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Gaïa utilitarianism?
What is the name of the branch of utilitarianism that place nature, biodiversity, life on earth, maybe intelligence, at the center, like classical utilitarianism do with human ?
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Is cheating mandatory according to a utilitarian?
Let's consider a game with a large number of players for which I discovered an undetectable cheating technique that makes me win (i.e. top the leaderboard) every time I use it (while my real skill is ...
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What are the most important responses to the claim that utilitarianism is compatible with extreme injustices?
Utilitarianism is often accused of being compatible with extreme injustices. If by tormenting a minority, a great amount of happiness is generated for a large majority, this situation would be ...
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What does utilitarianism say on the topic of abortion and timescales?
So, a bit of a forewarning here: this is going to delve into a controversial topic. I hope we can keep this civil, but this is the internet so who knows. Ideally, this also won't take a political tack,...
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Does utilitarianism demand a 5 mph speed limit?
Ok, so a bit of forewarning: this is going to delve into current events a little bit (not too much though).
I was having a discussion with someone about the response to the recent pandemic and I said ...
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174 views
Are Life and Intelligence analogous?
Let me explain what I mean. From the standpoint of biology, life is often defined by having a metabolism, the ability to reproduce, evolve, etc. (There is no single definition so far as I can tell.)
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Is self-interest ethical even when it means not helping others?
I'm having trouble reconciling common sense self-interest with the mainstream systems in ethics.
Say I'm taking a life-changing exam, and I've studied and am super prepared; yet, the guy behind me ...
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How do you apply utilitarian concepts to answer this?
You are the prime minister of a state being threatened by an insurgent group of 1000 men. You received the news that the insurgents are hiding in the hills with a community of innocent civilians of ...
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Harm Principle and the eventual harm of creating needs
A necessity or a need is a necessary condition for something else.
A need in Economics and particularly a consumer need is something needed to be consumed, a necessary condition for achieving higher ...
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In utilitarianism, is it better to give 1000 units of happiness to 1 person, or 100 units each to 10 people?
Assume that we have a way of quantifying happiness, and assume that all the people mentioned are equally well-off (not that the second point matters, I don't think). I know what the answer would be if ...
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Should we pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge without considering the possible consequences? [closed]
For example, should Alfred Noble be blamed for suicide bombers as he created dynamite?
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What is the meaning of “Philistine utilitarianism”?
I was wondering what is the meaning of "Philistine utilitarianism"? I saw this in a couple of articles and I wanna know that Is it a term or Should I read it literally; that is, anti-intellectual ...
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What should you do in this situation?
You've been on a cruise for two days when there's an accident that forces everyone on board to abandon ship. During the evacuation, one of the boats is damaged, leaving it with a hole that fills it ...
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How could I possibly apply rule-utilitarianism in real life?
If I believe in rule-utilitarianism as the best moral system we have to judge what actions are right and wrong, how would I go about applying this system pratically in real life decisions?
For ...
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Where does this utility equation come from, and what does the zero or uppercase “o” mean?
(1/n)(B + g/n) + ([n–1]/n)(0 + g/n)
What is zero or uppercase O mean?
Page 16: http://www.stafforini.com/library/kagan-2011.pdf#page=16
My best guess is that it's found somewhere in Reasons and ...
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I'm being drafted to the military but I have the option to refuse (legally), would it be immoral for me to serve? [closed]
I’m set to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces but I have the option to exempt from the military if I wish to. So I’m in a big moral dilemma on whether I should serve or not, I’m currently leaning ...
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Alternative to utilitarianism that only looks at negative consequences of actions
If I understand correctly, according to utilitarianism, in the trolley problem, the ethical action is to pull the lever, causing one person to die and saving five.
Is there a variant of ...
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The needs of many (in 'ok' circumstances) vs. the needs of few (in 'extreme' circumstances)
I am writing about decision making when allocating charity resources, and I need a bit of background on deciding between improving lots of lives for animals with, let's say, average welfare (that ...
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Death in utilitaranism
Define utilitarian: Utilitarianism is a family of consequentialist ethical theories that promotes actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the majority of a population. (Wikipedia)
Is ...
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Reconciling Utilitarianism and Rawls's Theory of Justice as Fairness
I will argue that John Stuart Mill's greatest happiness principle (GHP) should be revised to avoid problematic implications and to better fit humans' intuitive sense of morality. Furthermore, the ...
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Preference Utilitarianism with regards to humans and animals
I am not in depth familiar with the theory of preference utilitarianism, so this might be a complete misunderstanding of the principle. But nonetheless there are a few things that I can not gasp under ...
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Categorical Imperative vs. Utilitarianism
I'm watching philosophy crash course, and the narrator claimed that Utilitarianism is the antithesis of the of Kant's categorical imperative. However, on the surface, I can't see a major difference. ...
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How does utilitarianism deal with probabilities?
This is the most frustrating problem I encountered in understanding utilitarianism. If we've chosen the best possible alternative according to the expected value of 'happiness' it brought. Could our ...
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Utilitarianism revisited
I assume utilitarianism to be the doctrine that one should act to maximize the overall amount of "happiness".
Next to the fact that it's not quite clear
what happiness is supposed to be and how it ...
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Is there a quantitative model of Bentham's Hedonic Calculus?
Jeremy Bentham, in Chapter 4 of his 1781 An Introduction to the Principles
of Morals and Legislation, defines what has become known as the Hedonic Calculus. He states,
Pleasures then, and the ...
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What are the disadvantages of utilitarianism? [closed]
For a philosophy that is founded on usefulness I don't see much of a disadvantage. But, I'd love know more about it.
