my thoughts on utilitarianism- fall 2024

 Update: GOD I haven’t posted here in so long! I have this unpredictable relationship with myself where I suffer long bouts of unproductivity caused by my fixation to be productive, and my version of productive is writing at least 6 paragraphs a- day, finishing absolutely every assignment and reviewing all material for every one of my classes etc. It gets to be really frustrating because I find myself wishing I was better, though I will never be that kind of “better”. Psychologist Ellen Hendrikson said “We are each our own worst critic” and it is painfully true. Besides that, back in May, I debated whether I wanted to get my Associate’s degree in Journalism or Philosophy. I knew I wanted skills to be a better writer/Journalist but the Idea of Philosophy attracted me, almost more so. I love that (In philosophy) you answer every question with another question, which I quess can be thought-provoking but also obnoxious. Philosophy gets me wondering if there even is a concrete truth to anything. What’s the purpose of believing anything anymore? This can be a troubling process, but to me, it gave me more space to wonder. Ultimately, I decided to Major in Journalism, but luckily I still needed a class for my Social Sciences core. You better, believe I chose Philosophy. Last, week we studied Utilitarianism, Hedonism under the Umbrella of Consequentialism. Below is my piece from the Discussion board, after Reading John Stuart Mill’s 1861 essay on Utilitarianism. Thank you so much, and I hope you keep onboard this ride with me :)

A question I found myself asking a lot while reading John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism is “Why put so much effort into maximizing the pleasure for as many people as possible, if that pleasure they may use may be to minimize the pleasure of other people?” or in other words, how do we know for sure the people around us are deserving of pleasure and happiness? However, this prompts another question, what makes you deserving of pleasure? According to Mill, Everyone deserves pleasure as human beings, because everyone’s Pain and Pleasure count equally. But in that case, does the pain of losing a loved to Cancer equal the pain of losing your car keys? 

However, Mill clarifies in his section titled “Higher and Lower Pleasures” that Pleasure is more than greed, more than over-indulgence of superficial desires. “Human beings have •higher faculties than the animal appetites, and once they become conscious of •them they don’t regard anything as happiness that doesn’t include •their gratification” ( Mill, pg.5 chapter.2) The amount of happy people equates to a happier society, and that is referring to the element of Aggregation when we add up everyone’s well-being, but does that mean well-being is only achieved by generating pleasure in people? And once that pleasure is generated, I disagree that it can necessarily guarantee the well-being of the entire world. I also wonder if we are sacrificing our own sense of well-being and pleasure for others because satisfying a group of people is morally better than just satisfying yourself. Mill touches on this in Chapter 3 “I would add something that may seem paradoxical: namely that in this Present Imperfect condition of the world the conscious ability to do without happiness gives the best prospect of bringing about such happiness as is attainable.” With all things considered, I don’t agree with Mill’s Utilitarianism. However, he altered it to be broader when Bentham intended it to only create a more just legal system and economy for his time. I can get by the intention. I agree with Mill’s definition of Instrumental and Intrinsic value. (I think we can all agree that our family(Intrinsic value) serves a higher purpose than money (Instrumental value). To put it bluntly, I believe Utilitarianism is a naive doctrine in Philosophy. We are unreasonable creatures, we can be inherently selfish and although Utilitarianism attempts at conquering our flaws it fails to tackle the real effect of our consequences. What would make most people happy, may not be best for their overall well-being in the long run.