 |
| Replies |
 (Return) |
| Utilitarianism |
| Dee
Speaking
|
 We can divide many theories of morality into two sorts: those that stress the priority of right and those that stress the priority of the good.Utilitarianism stresses the priority of the good. Indeed, for utilitarians everything is subordinate to their conception of the good -- whether it be pleasure, the satisfaction of preferences, or whatever. Obligation, for example, is simply the obligation to do whatever will maximize the good. Rights are a subset of rules that have a great deal of long-term value because they help maximize the good. There are no rights that can stand against the good. Libertarianism belongs to the other type of theory. Libertarians begin with a notion of individual rights. Any attempts to maximize the good (however that is defined) must work around the constraints imposed by rights. So we have to decide. What is prior -- the good or the right? Will individual rights be limited by whether they maximize the good? Or will we have less good because we protect individual rights? |
| Ariadne's Home | Contact Ariadne at: | Justice Home |
| Justice Bibliography |  |
Justice Contents |
|
||