What are your thoughts on utilitarianism?
I always thought it to be a reasonable philosophy because it considers improving the well-being of the greatest number of individuals as the primary goal. The basic premise is easy to understand and seems a reasonable way to improve the condition of the world. If people choose that philosophy as their main way to look at improving the condition of the world, then individual issues can be discussed with regards to their effects on human happiness.
For example, stealing is considered immoral because the unhappiness of the person being stolen from is typically greater than the happiness of the thief. Also, stealing discourages useful work. This would make people unhappy when resources such as food are scarce, since no one had worked for it, preferring instead to steal.
In my opinion, this is a good article that explains the benefits of consequentialism and utilitarianism: http://www.raikoth.net/consequentialism.html.
I always thought it to be a reasonable philosophy because it considers improving the well-being of the greatest number of individuals as the primary goal. The basic premise is easy to understand and seems a reasonable way to improve the condition of the world. If people choose that philosophy as their main way to look at improving the condition of the world, then individual issues can be discussed with regards to their effects on human happiness.
For example, stealing is considered immoral because the unhappiness of the person being stolen from is typically greater than the happiness of the thief. Also, stealing discourages useful work. This would make people unhappy when resources such as food are scarce, since no one had worked for it, preferring instead to steal.
In my opinion, this is a good article that explains the benefits of consequentialism and utilitarianism: http://www.raikoth.net/consequentialism.html.
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