Should Humanists Be Utilitarians?
Does rejection of God-based morality--that is, commandments from really on high--leave utilitarianism as the only reasonable approach to ethics? Some atheists think so. Let's start with the definition. Utilitarianism holds that we ought to pursue the greatest happiness/pleasure/good for the greatest number. It sounds reasonable and simple enough, but philosophical critiques of utilitarianism abound. I'll briefly touch on a few points. We could begin by asking why that ought to be our goal. Is this a subjective preference, or can an objective case be made? If it's subjective, then why that one rather than something else? We may wonder whether it's a problem for the theory that people have different ideas about happiness and pleasure. To pick an extreme example, think of the masochists and sadists. Do they count? And do only people count? Moreover, isn't it possible that the two parts of the principle might conflict? Why the greatest happiness for the greatest number?