6 Against Util

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Oct 30, 2023

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Objections to Utilitarianism
Tell me about George, the Chemist
What is the story of Jim and the Indians? What does the Utilitarian say about the two cases? What would you do in George’s position? Is it right? What would you do in Jim’s position? Is it right? More important why ?
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The George the chemist example Here, the objection is that it looks like Utilitarianism gets the wrong answer. Most of us would say that George shouldn’t take the job, and Utilitarianism says that he ought to.
Williams’ suggestion What does the Utilitarian miss in the case of George’s job? It’s that I am especially responsible for what I do. The fact that someone else would do something nasty if I didn’t do something less nasty is sometimes not a reason to do the less nasty thing.
Jim and Pedro The problem isn't whether one would feel squeamish about killing the Indian, or whether one could bring oneself to do it. Utilitarianism, like everyone else, can admit that people would find it difficult to kill the Indian. In this case it isn’t obvious that Utilitarianism gets the wrong answer. Even if it is Pedro and not Jim who kills twenty Indians, a lot of people will die.
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What the problem is The problem is Utilitarianism has a very impoverished view of what ought to be considered All that matters is the outcome , the consequences of the action. And the consequences are favorable if Jim kills the Indian, so it seems obvious (from Utilitarian reasoning) that that is the right act.
More on the objection The position or role one plays in the course of events matters. “Jim must consider not only the number of dead Indians, but the fact that if he choses one way he is a killer, whereas if he choses another way he is not. ...If Jim refuses to kill an Indian then we cannot say that Jim has killed twenty Indians; perhaps we cannot even say that Jim caused the twenty Indians to be killed”
The problem of dirty hands Jim’s situation is common for politics. To prevent the French navy from falling into German hands, Churchill killed 4,000 French sailors. (Coventry.) The CIA tortured terrorists after 9/11, and the British tortured IRA prisoners. Truman dropped the atom bomb on Japan. To say torture and massacre are never the right thing to do has very high costs.
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Shafer-Landau’s essay
Impartiality Utilitarianism means you cannot treat your children, or other close family, as special. Strictly speaking, if you could do more good preventing famine with your money, you should not spend it treating minor illnesses of your family.
Utilitarian replies First, it’s better that everyone be encouraged to follow their own inclinations to favor their family. That helps maximize happiness and minimize suffering. Problem: sometimes family obligations really conflict with utility. Second (SWM) a lot of moral theories have problems with this! They nearly all require every human to have equal worth.
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Are some things always wrong? People have civil rights. So governments are prohibited from making certain kinds of laws. Individuals too have actions that are always wrong. It’s easy to think of examples. Utilitarianism has some room to answer that these cause suffering, but not always. The most discussed worries are about Justice and civil rights .
Ought you to frame an innocent person? This example is due to Bernard Williams. Joe is an old drunk without family whom nobody much cares about, although he's harmless. You are the sheriff of a small, rural, and economically and educationally backward town where Joe lives.
Joe
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The divisive murder One day, a child is murdered in a particularly vicious and nasty way. This revives an old conflict in the town which has pretty much died out (perhaps it's a feud like the Hatfields and McCoys, or a tribal war, broadly conceived, like Northern Ireland once had). You know who did it, it's Nasty, a somewhat respected figure. It'll be almost impossible to prove though, and besides, Nasty dies suddenly.
The gathering storm The townsfolk are angry. Meetings break up into riots. There are real threats of retaliation by the group to which the child belonged against the other group, who are believed to have done the murder. Counter-threats are made. The local gun shop sells out of ammunition. You know that if you do not do something quickly to settle matters, many people will be killed, and the town will be in a state of civil war. Should you frame Old Joe?
The Utilitarian answer Well, if there's really no other way to stop a blood- bath, then yes. You should frame Old Joe. The murder will be “solved”, Joe will be hanged, and the town will calm down. You might not be certain this will happen, but you can be pretty sure. (And besides, is it only wrong to frame Joe because of the uncertainty of success here?) To many, this seems wrong.
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OutSmart your opponent That story was first proposed by Bernard Williams against a Utilitarian, J.J.C. Smart. Smart accepted the conclusion! He thought framing Joe was the right thing to do. Ever since then, when someone replies to an objection by accepting an absurd conclusion, this is known as outSmarting the opponent.
The general theme These objections follow a pattern. Someone, or some group, suffer horribly, and unfairly. But, as a result, another larger group all get marginally less suffering, or more happiness. Utilitarianism has to say that the small group ought to be victimized, often for a group that is already better off than they are.
Nozick's Experience Machine The experience machine allows anyone to have any experience whatever, by generating a virtual reality. It affects the brain somehow so that the brain of the person will feel as though they're going through the experience. Suppose the machine becomes very common, and everyone, the world over, spends all their time having wonderful experiences. Other needs, like food etc. are taken care of by robots.
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Is that a good world? To the Utilitarian, this looks like the best world there could be, pretty much. Is it? Is it really pleasure that counts for everything? Is it really true that the pleasure of feeling as though you've climbed a mountain is just as good (indeed, maybe better, because safer) than actually climbing the mountain? And does the same hold for the pleasure of solving a mental problem? Listening to a symphony? Helping others?
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Another objection The source of the pleasure doesn't matter to a Utilitarian. So, for example, the pleasure of someone who feels himself socially superior counts as much as the pleasure of watching children play. The pleasure of the racist can be counted against the misery of his victims. Some people feel that these pleasures ought not to count at all.
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For Next Time: Read: Kant, excerpts from Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals Rosen et al. pp 800-813. Warning: Very difficult. Try to understand as much as you can. I’ll explain it in class.
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