RE: Good People
May 10, 2021 at 9:38 pm
(This post was last modified: May 10, 2021 at 9:42 pm by vulcanlogician.)
How much sacrifice a person ought to make is a separate issue from is it okay to coerce people to make "x" sacrifice.
I think they're completely separate and ought to be considered as separate issues. I think that some mandatory sacrifices are fine... taxes etc. Having to obey any law is in some sense a sacrifice.
As for vaccination? All people who can, especially if they have a lot of contact with the public, are morally obliged to get vaccinated. It's the right thing to do.
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As for utilitarianism, I wouldn't say utilitarianism values the group above the individual. A utilitarian seeks maximally good outcomes. Making one person very happy is good. Making two people exactly that happy is better. (Yes.)
But -to the utilitarian- making one very sad person very happy would be better than making two "already happy people" a little bit happier than they already were.
I think they're completely separate and ought to be considered as separate issues. I think that some mandatory sacrifices are fine... taxes etc. Having to obey any law is in some sense a sacrifice.
As for vaccination? All people who can, especially if they have a lot of contact with the public, are morally obliged to get vaccinated. It's the right thing to do.
***
As for utilitarianism, I wouldn't say utilitarianism values the group above the individual. A utilitarian seeks maximally good outcomes. Making one person very happy is good. Making two people exactly that happy is better. (Yes.)
But -to the utilitarian- making one very sad person very happy would be better than making two "already happy people" a little bit happier than they already were.