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The problems with your last argument are that almost nobody is actually a utilitarian, and utilitarianism is wrong.[1][2][3] edit: full disclosure; I am an eth
by nickff 10y ago
The problems with your last argument are that almost nobody is actually a utilitarian, and utilitarianism is wrong.[1][2][3]
edit: full disclosure; I am an ethical intuitionist.[4]
[1] http://degreesofclarity.com/writing/utilitarianism/ http://degreesofclarity.com/writing/utilitarianism/
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism#Criticisms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism#Criticisms
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_intuitionism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethical_intuitionism
- hprotagonist 10y agoBut it sounds good to sell it to the "fiscal conservatives". I am not a utilitarian, but nobody likes to be hectored into doing things -- and it's easy for an argument from, e.g., personal morality to sound that way.
- nickff 10y agoHave you ever convinced someone of something by using a utilitarian argument? I haven't. I have become completely convinced that either nobody is a utilitarian (i.e. 'utilitarians' just frame their preferences as the utility-maximizing solution), or that there is no consistent way to evaluate utility.
- stale2002 10y agoThe Trolley problem isn't really an example of utilitarianism being wrong. Quite the opposite, I use that example to convince people of how awesome Utilitarianism is, not as a contradiction. What, would you chose to kill 5 people, instead of one?
- nickff 10y agoI gave that as an example of a controversial subject; many people prefer to let things be rather than interfere and kill one or more people. The organ donor example is much tougher.
- nikdaheratik 10y agoThere is no one moral philosophy that adequately covers every situation. If there was we'd just use that and not have all of these other options. They are tools to consider (and sometimes reject) just like other parts of philosophy. What Utilitarianism is good for is making policy decisions that are not directly related to human rights, and therefore may not have a clear cut answer in other philosophies. [edit clarity]
- dang 10y agoWe detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13825745 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13825745 and marked it off-topic.