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| Utilitarianism |
| Fred
Speaking
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 I realize that a utilitarian can claim that protecting individual rights maximizes welfare (or some other goal) in the long run. But there is no proof of that. It's a
brute assertion -- wishful thinking or pure dogmatism, take your pick.The fact is, no one knows enough about long-term consequences and how to measure or add them up to answer the question. And utilitarianism has other problems for a political conservative like me. One conservative thinker, Frank Mayer, pointed out that in the 19th century, classical liberalism defended freedom. But it was flawed because it was based on a utilitarianism that "denied the validity of moral ends firmly based on the constitution of being." Because of this flaw, liberalism in the 20th century was able to drift slowly toward a regulated economy and a welfare state. |
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