@mattetho you never told me where you teach. yeah, the uncertainty and the need to rely on induction [enter Hume] is another fatal flaw. The logical argument for utilitarianism is in the video. The way to produce the most happiness is to do the morally right action, so the morally right action is the one that produces the most happiness.
@mattetho Um, okay, where do you teach philosophy? I'm curious now. In my opinion, the fatal error in utilitarianism is that it condones actions that go against our moral intuition for "the greater good" [see Watchmen] The bridge problem, the surgeon problem, the vaccine problem,things like that where the "right thing to do" would be to preserve the lives of the many, but involve actively taking the life of an innocent. It's not a logical flaw, it just leads to conclusions that are immoral.
@mattetho Mill is logically sound, actually. But the Nazi comment is out of nowhere, I think. They might have BELIEVED what they were doing was promoting the greatest sum total of happiness, but every contemporary moral theorist of whom I know would disagree, utilitarians included.
I agree that Utilitarianism is flawed, however, your reasoning is... spotty.
@mattetho you never told me where you teach. yeah, the uncertainty and the need to rely on induction [enter Hume] is another fatal flaw. The logical argument for utilitarianism is in the video. The way to produce the most happiness is to do the morally right action, so the morally right action is the one that produces the most happiness.
TheBioethicist 1 year ago
@mattetho yeah, that's exactly my point. I'm a deontologist.
TheBioethicist 1 year ago
@mattetho Um, okay, where do you teach philosophy? I'm curious now. In my opinion, the fatal error in utilitarianism is that it condones actions that go against our moral intuition for "the greater good" [see Watchmen] The bridge problem, the surgeon problem, the vaccine problem,things like that where the "right thing to do" would be to preserve the lives of the many, but involve actively taking the life of an innocent. It's not a logical flaw, it just leads to conclusions that are immoral.
TheBioethicist 1 year ago
@mattetho Mill is logically sound, actually. But the Nazi comment is out of nowhere, I think. They might have BELIEVED what they were doing was promoting the greatest sum total of happiness, but every contemporary moral theorist of whom I know would disagree, utilitarians included.
I agree that Utilitarianism is flawed, however, your reasoning is... spotty.
TheBioethicist 1 year ago