8 objections to Mills Utilitarianism
UTL is a "godless doctrine"
1) Criticism depends on what we see the moral characteristics of God as; for if God desires happiness for all his creation, then UTL is more religious than any doctrine 1 1/2) if god is good he wills the happiness of his creation 2) A utilitarian believes that God's revealed truth about morality will fit with utilitarian principles 3) We need a doctrine of ethics to understand Gods will for us
Utilitarian thinking renders men "cold and unsympathizing"
1) Mill replies: if the criticism is that UTL doesn't let the rightness or wrongness of an action be affected by the type of person performing it, then this is a criticism of all morality 2) It a mistake to only cultivate moral feelings, is a mistake moralist of all persuassions often make
The Utilitarian standard, according to which one ought to maximize the aggregate happiness of everyone affected by ones actions, is "too high for humanity"
1) The utilitarian standard for judging an act is the happiness of all people, not the agent alone 2)thus, a person must not value their happiness over the happiness of others 3) this doesn't mean that the motive should be to serve the greatest good, UTL doesn't care about the motive behind the action; the morality of an action depends on the goodness of its result 4) only people working in public affairs, must think about public utility regularly
"A utilitarian will be apt to make his own particular case an exception to moral rules, and, when under temptation, we see a utility in the breach of a rule, greater than he will see in its observance"
1) This problem isn't limited to utilitarian theories 2) All creeds must have exceptions, because exceptions is part of the reality of human life 3) having a standard of utility to evoke, is better than having no standard
"There isn't time, previous of action, to calculate and weigh actions (on general happiness)
1) he says a claim like this is similar to saying we can't guide our conduct by Christianity, because we can't read the bible every time we need to act 2) we have had all humanity to learn that tendencies of actions lead to particular results 3) All rational people go through life with their mind made up on certain basic question of right and wrong
Happiness is not the highest good, because heroes and martyrs sacrifice happiness to a higher end
1) martyrs sacrifice for some greater end- what is better than improving the happiness of others 2) people sacrifice so that more people do not have to sacrifice 3) Utilitarians value sacrificing ones good for the good of others, but sacrificing is not good itself 4) sacrifice is good only if it promotes happiness
Happiness is unattainable
1) this is an exaggeration 2) happiness is possible if education and social arraignments were different 3) sources of unhappiness: selfishness and a lack of mental cultivation 4)thus, happiness is possible for everyone if education nurtures the appropriate values
UTL is "a doctrine of expediency"
Mill replies by distinguishing three senses of "the expedient" 1) what suits " the particular interest of the agent" 2) What's best for immediate, temporary purpose 3) some rules are "of such transcendent expediency that we should stick to them even when breaking them would be expedient in sense (2)
