More objections to Utilitarianism

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More objections to Utilitarianism
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A common objection dismissed

• Objection If there are 101 people, Util. says
  that 51 of them can do whatever they want to the
  other 50 as long as that makes them happy.
• No it doesnt. (1) the unhappiness caused by
  deprivation must be factored in and (2) there are
  actions open that produce more happiness.

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Some Other common challenges

• Time (it takes too long to do a utilitarian
  calculus)
• Utils Response Most decisions are easy and
  obvious. Many others are quickly enough made
  with brief thought, still others do allow time
  for extended thought. For those issues requiring
  time that is not available, we must hope our
  moral habits are good enough.
• Inconsistency (utilitarianism is too situational)
• Utils Response One theorys inconsistency is
  another theorys flexibility. To some extent we
  want our moral theories to be able to consider
  actions taken in different circumstances in
  different ways.
• Uncertainty (shouldnt we know if an action is
  moral when we do it?)
• Utils Response It is true that some are better
  at anticipating consequences than others,
  however, nobody is excused from attempting to do
  so. People are often held responsible for
  outcomes they did not intend. The Util. says
  this is less a problem with utilitarianism than a
  problem with reality.

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Utilitarianism is too overriding/demanding

• According to a strict interpretation of Util. you
  must give up any luxury possessions you have
  until the point of marginal utility (that is,
  give until just before it hurts). It may well be
  that morality demands this of us, but the
  extremity of this position gives many pause.
• We will later read Famine, Affluence, and
  Morality by Peter Singer

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Utilitarianism is too impartial

• Imagine a scenario in which a stranger is
  drowning, and so is your spouse. You only have
  time to reach one of them.
• The solution to this dilemma seems obvious to
  most, but Util. provides no basis for the obvious
  answer.
• Bernard Williams criticizes the Utilitarian in
  this situation for having One thought too many.

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Rule-Utilitarianism

• In order to get out of objections like the time
  objection and the inconsistency objection, some
  Utilitarians have proposed that instead of doing
  only the action which generates the greatest
  utility, we ought to set up a system of rules
  that most of the time results in the best
  consequences.
• This means that murder, rape, and pillage are
  always wrong, and it takes no time at all to be a
  good utilitarianjust follow the rules.
• There are two main problems with this line of
  reasoning, contained on the next two slides.

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Rule-U devolves into Act-U

• It seems that Rule-Utilitarianism best
  accomplishes its goals (to maximize wefare) if
  there is only one rule Maximize welfare
• In that case, rule-U is not even a separate thing
  from act-U.

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Utilitarianism is a poor basis for rules

• Consider a person who cheats a bit on their
  taxes. They break the rules, and get the benefit
  of keeping a little extra money, and nothing bad
  whatsoever happens to anyone else (whats a few
  hundred bucks to the US treasury?). This action
  results in the best consequences.
• It appears that the way to optimize utility is
  not to have everybody follow the law, but instead
  to make sure that as many people break the law as
  possible without collapsing the system.
• All rules appear to have this character in a
  Utilitarian system, and thats really odd.

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A problem with aggregating utility

• Utilizing a method of maximizing total utility in
  a fully utilitarian society leads to what is
  called The reprehensible conclusion which
  advocates as many people as possible living at
  the bare minimum.

• Utilizing a method of maximizing average utility
  in a fully utilitarian society leads to what is
  called The dastardly conclusion in which a
  number of people sacrifice themselves to improve
  the average.

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The Reprehensible Conclusion

• To maximize total, turn this

• Into this?

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The Dastardly Conclusion

• Maximize Average, Turn this

• Into this?

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Study Questions

• What is tempting about Rule-utilitarianism, and
  why does it ultimately not succeed?
• Which of these objections if any, are strong
  enough to warrant abandoning utilitarianism? Why?
• How might the utilitarian defend themselves
  against either the reprehensible conclusion or
  the dastardly conslusion?