The Challenge of Philosophy CH10

The Ethics of Utility: Mill’s Challenge

Chapter 10 focuses on John Stuart Mill's utilitarian moral theory.
The lecturer's initial encounter with Mill's theory was in 1977, finding initial objections devastating.
Later, through teaching assistance at USC in 1983, a deeper reading of Mill's Utilitarianism revealed that common objections were often superficial.
Mill aimed to reform the unjust structure of 19th-century English society.
- Victorian England faced economic hardships: unemployment, poverty, poor living conditions, child labor, and limited opportunities for women.
- Charles Dickens's works, like A Christmas Carol, illustrate these societal issues.
- Social safety nets were lacking, making the vulnerable (widows, orphans, disabled) reliant on Church charities.

James Mill (John Stuart Mill's father) and Jeremy Bentham advocated for progressive social policies.
- These included public assistance, higher taxes on the wealthy, higher wages, public schools, and the end of child labor.
Mill was a pioneer in arguing for gender equity with his book, On the Subjection of Women.
- He highlighted the contradiction of abolishing slavery in England (1834) while still treating wives as property.

The utilitarian theory is designed to promote progressive social change.
The Greatest Happiness Principle (GHP): "Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness."
- Happiness is defined as pleasure and the absence of pain.
- Unhappiness is defined as pain and the privation of pleasure.
This principle provides an external criterion for determining moral goodness by assessing the likely consequences of actions.
Example: Recycling is justified despite the time and effort because the overall outcome (clear yard and monetary reward) is better.

The term "pleasure" often faces criticism and dislike.
Critics argue that if the sole purpose of life is pleasure, it is a base and degrading philosophy, fit only for animals.
Objections raised:
- A world with an abundant supply of heroin would be ideal, as it produces intense pleasure.
- An ideal world might involve sadists and masochists inflicting and enduring pain for sensual enjoyment.
- Reference to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, where citizens are controlled with the pleasure-inducing drug, Soma.

Humans who develop their intellectual skills would agree that uniquely human pleasures involving intellect offer a higher quality of pleasure than mere bodily sensations.
Few people would trade places with lower animals for the promise of the fullest animal pleasures; similarly, no intelligent person would choose ignorance, and no person of feeling would choose to be selfish.
This is not elitism, as relationships are generally valued over fleeting encounters.
Circumstances may lead people to addiction or destitution, but that is not a desired outcome.
The opportunity to enjoy art, music, and literature enriches life.
While simple pleasures are enjoyable, relationships and intellectual pursuits are treasured more.

Utilitarianism is supported by many philosophers and animal rights activists.
A serious objection is that it seems to violate our moral intuitions about justice.
The Utilitarian General Hospital Scenario:
- A healthy patient is sacrificed to provide organs for multiple patients in need.
- This maximizes overall happiness but violates the individual’s right to life.
The Riverside, CA Farmworker Scenario:
- After a rape occurs in a neighborhood, residents seek to harm innocent farmworkers from Mexico due to the suspicion (but without proof) that they were involved in the crime.
- A sheriff might consider sacrificing an innocent loiterer to satisfy an angry mob and prevent further violence, potentially saving more lives overall.

Mill addresses the objection that utilitarianism might permit "white lies."
Truthfulness is crucial for social relationships, especially intimate ones, and violating this principle will not ultimately produce more happiness.
Consequences must be assessed in the long term, not just for immediate outcomes.
Punishing innocent people to prevent a riot does not produce an overall balance of pleasure.
The principle that only guilty people should be punished is fundamental.
Societies that take organs without consent or punish the innocent cannot thrive.
While hypothetical scenarios might exist where sacrificing an innocent person could save the world, generally, moral principles essential for long-term societal good should not be violated for short-term gains.
Mill refers to these as principles of “transcendent expediency.”

Logical positivism sought to eliminate metaphysics from philosophy in the early 20th century.
A.J. Ayer’s Language, Truth, and Logic was a key text.
The Verification Principle: A statement is meaningful only if it can be empirically verified or falsified.
Ayer argues that statements about God, the soul, and immortality are meaningless under this principle.
While utilitarianism appears to withstand the verification principle because the consequences of pleasure and pain seem empirically verifiable, Ayer finds another problem.

Ayer argues that it's not contradictory to say an action is wrong even if it would cause the greatest happiness.
Example: "Helping Granny move is good, but it does not produce more pleasure." This statement isn’t contradictory, but it should be if "good" simply means "produces more pleasure."
The Naturalistic Fallacy (G.E. Moore): "Good" cannot be reduced to a naturally occurring property.
The lecturer disagrees with Ayer, arguing that the original statement is contradictory.
Helping elders does produce more pleasure overall, even if it disrupts immediate plans.

Ayer proposes emotivism, stating that moral judgments are expressions of emotional approval or disapproval rather than factual claims.
Saying "abortion is bad" simply means "I disapprove of abortion."
The lecturer critiques this theory.
When saying "capital punishment is bad," one expresses disapproval but also implies reasons for this belief.
Disagreements about social policy require evidence and arguments.
Bad social policies stem from poor reasoning.