Anti-Utilitarianism
March 2, 2011 at 1:30 pm
(This post was last modified: March 2, 2011 at 1:32 pm by Edwardo Piet.)
I am against utilitarianism. My objection to it is the same objection from the relevant Wikipedia article on the subject:
I maintain that since everyone has separate consciousnesses then it makes no sense to aggregate utility. Such a calculation is nonsensical and inaccurate.
And, if we believe that we instead share a collective consciousness then if we truly shared such a consciousness 100%, we would all at most be able to experience the same identical amount of pleasure or pain. So there is nothing left to aggregate.
And with any differences in consciousness we have the problem of aggregating utility again.
I am not against Consequentialism, I am a Consequentialist myself. But despite Utilitarianism's popularity - which is irrelevant anyway, an appeal to popularity is not an appeal to rationality - I see the above objection as undefeatable.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
Wikipedia Wrote:John Rawls gives a critique of Utilitarianism in A Theory of Justice that rejects the idea that the happiness of two distinct persons could be meaningfully counted together. He argues that this entails treating a group of many as if it were a single sentient entity, mistakenly ignoring the separation of consciousness.
I maintain that since everyone has separate consciousnesses then it makes no sense to aggregate utility. Such a calculation is nonsensical and inaccurate.
And, if we believe that we instead share a collective consciousness then if we truly shared such a consciousness 100%, we would all at most be able to experience the same identical amount of pleasure or pain. So there is nothing left to aggregate.
And with any differences in consciousness we have the problem of aggregating utility again.
I am not against Consequentialism, I am a Consequentialist myself. But despite Utilitarianism's popularity - which is irrelevant anyway, an appeal to popularity is not an appeal to rationality - I see the above objection as undefeatable.
What are your thoughts on the matter?
