amp;nbsp;The faux Buddhist monk even manages to give a "relevant" example of
Utilitarianism during the class.
That scale consists of 12 items, and considers egoism and
utilitarianism, which are not included in the 8-item scale.
The version of
utilitarianism derived from Thomas Paley is somewhat different as it is founded on the idea that God wishes "the happiness of his creatures" so that the pursuit of happiness can be viewed as the fulfillment of human nature (Paley, 1806: 79).
And, by including all conscious creatures rather than just people, Harris's theory raises even more problems than traditional
utilitarianism does.
Utilitarianism reasoning claims that the morality of an act is a function of the benefits gained and cost exposed by society as a whole.
His view represents a via media between the erstwhile rival commitments of Regan's deontological approach and Singer's
utilitarianism.
It would have been interesting to see whether Colombatto agrees with these arguments and whether his critique of consequentialism applies only to act
utilitarianism.
Do we not know that self-interest breeds self-interest, that
utilitarianism breeds
utilitarianism, even as war breeds war?
His opening question in deciding between natural law and
utilitarianism is this: "what metric should be used to make judgments about desirable social policy?
After noting a rare point of agreement between Nozick and Rawls--that both base their critique of
utilitarianism on the separateness of persons--Meadowcroft goes to great lengths to defend Nozick's entitlement theory and to vindicate his famous critique of Rawls's theory of justice as fairness.
Utilitarianism and normative economics are often confused, according to Posner.
Darwin's "solution" to the dilemma posed by his own theory was, ultimately, the same position held by his "bulldog," Thomas Henry Huxley, who coined the word "agnostic," and John Stuart Mill, the famous l9th-century philosopher and staunch defender of
Utilitarianism.
