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Debate Question

What are your thoughts on utilitarianism?

a utilitarian, is someone who will, in any scenario, react by doing what will cause the MOST happiness, for the greater ammount of people, even if it means a smaller minority will end up suffering.

example 1- If a utilitarian saw a baby with a lolli-pop, and he wanted it, he would not take it, because even though he would get pleasure out of the lollipop, the babay would get the displesure of losing it, so he/she would not take the candy.
example 2- if two violent serial murderers were stuck in a burning house but one innocent child was also stuck in a burning house next door, and the utilitarian could only save one, he/she would save the 2 serial killers, as he is causing more life to continue and thus more happiness.

Not quite sure what i mean? wikipedia should have a page on it somewhere....

my take on utilitarianism- it has good intentions...but there are obvious draw-backs.

are you a utilitaran? what are your thoughts on utilitarianism? can you see the possible benefits, drawbacks--- and why?
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I wrote a very long response to this, but the site is balking at posting it. Grrr.
harold posted over a year ago
 pandawinx posted over a year ago
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Debate Answers

harold said:
This is a philosophy question, not sure what the debate is here.

Utilitarianism as promoting the "most happiness" is a Bentham idea; a more general approach is that it promotes "the greatest good."

Two problems with it:

1) In Utilitarianism, the ends justify the means. It doesn't matter how you get to the greatest good, as long as you get there.

2) Good (or happiness, if you are a Benthamite) is relative. It's impossible to determine what the greatest good in a given situation is, much less compare the relative merits of short-term good vs. long-term good, and that's not even considering how each Utilitarian acts without consensus as to what the greatest good is, so that there is the potential for conflict between Utilitarians both striving for different Good outcomes.
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posted over a year ago 
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This is super-abbreviated from what I wrote originally. <sigh>
harold posted over a year ago
Lunalovely said:
Yeah some are okay, but ive never liked the whole thing about doing good, but at someones expense. I mean who saves the serial killers? Who cares if its two people! Theres an INNOCENT CHILD next door! One who could live life and become a great person, forget the okay, its horrible, unless the one who ends up suffering is the utilitarian
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posted over a year ago 
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true, there are draw-backs, but i think its safe to say they mean well. like with the first example.
pandawinx posted over a year ago
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Yeah they do, but if utilitarians really DO mean well then THEY should be getting the displeasure, not anyone else, and definately not an innocent little kid. Heck the serial killers deserve it, they can have fun in hell
Lunalovely posted over a year ago
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i agree, but you must try and remember that this is only a example, utilitarism isn't just about serial killers in burning houses. there are a lot of other situations i could put them in, for example- let's say 3 toddlers are drowning in the sea (or two, or one), a utilitarian would save the toddlers, even if it meant he/she would drown. thus giving up his/her life for three--- or two----or one toddler's life.
pandawinx posted over a year ago
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Yeah, I would agree with that
Lunalovely posted over a year ago
prophet69 said:
Utilitarianism presents us with a system that is tolerant and inclusive of many people. The greatest good for the greatest number, the base principle of utilitarianism, can be applied in many situations to solve moral dilemmas and organise society.
It promotes individuality and disagrees with oppression be it cultural or that of the majority.
Utilitarianism is good insofar as it is egalitarian (takes everyone's interests under consideration) and focuses on maximizing the best consequences (for this reason Utilitarianism falls within the Consequentialist camp). However, Utilitarianism is bad in so far as it's primary concern isn't in honoring rights or in obeying the moral law, so much as in promoting the best consequences. Thus, Utilitarians will sometimes endorse answers that many will find unsavory. For example, if one can make 100 people extremely happy by making one person miserable, than, in many Utilitarian calculations, this will be the right thing to do.
Whether Utilitarianism is the "right" moral theory comes down to what your first moral principles are . If you think pleasure is "the good" (hedonism) and that everyone's pleasure is equally valuable, then you will most likely agree with many things Utilitarians say. If, on the other hand, you think individuals have rights, and that these rights are inviolable, then you will most likely think that Utilitarianism has it all wrong.
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posted over a year ago 
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