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| Utilitarianism |
| Dee
Speaking
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 I
like Ayesha's argument about two possible worlds. Here's one of my
own.Imagine two worlds with the same amount and the same distribution of happiness or welfare, or whatever utilitarians are tying to maximize. But the second world includes people with a much broader range of liberties than the first. The people in that world also have the habit of critically examining and choosing their actions and their way of life. And the second world also includes the work of Shakespeare and Beethoven and Newton and Einstein. Nothing comparable exists in the first world. Do any of us believe that any sane person would value these worlds equally? I suspect not. The point is that happiness or satisfaction or pleasure are not all we value. There are other things that matter -- things like liberty, creativity, autonomy -- but these are things that utilitarianism has a hard time including in its calculus. |
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