Topic 2a: Evaluating Utilitarianism’s Theory of the Good

Objections to the theory of the good of utilitarianism

Narrowness objection, agency objection, evil pleasures objection, quality objection, irrelevance objection

The narrowness objection (and responses to this objection)

Utilitarianism’s identification of happiness is too narrow

Responses

• human activity is driven by subconscious motivation → worry that this is dogmatic

• We pursue things like art, knowledge, and athletic excellence because they bring happiness to others → sometimes we do them just to see if we can accomplish them

The agency objection

Argues that utilitarianism forces people to abandon their personal endeavours in order to maximize overall utility

• loss of autonomy

• Thought experience machine by Nozick

Evil pleasures objection

According to Bentham pleasures are valuable in accordance with their intensity, length, and purity → the cause or source of the pleasure plays no role

Objection → some pleasures are considered evil and bring harm to others, therefore not maximizing the overall utility

The quality objection

Is all that matters the amount of pleasure we experience? Or are there different qualities of pleasure?

For Mill, higher pleasures stimulate our intellectual experience

The irrelevance objection

Perhaps happiness has nothing to do with morality and the good life

Many people believe that the trials and tribulations we face make us into better people → struggling through school can make us better scholars, challenging competition can make us better athletes

Thinks that pleasure is completely irrelevant towards morality → how can pleasure mean something is morally right?