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Single Idea 4124

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 3. Motivation for Altruism ]

Full Idea

Utilitarian benevolence involves no particular attachments, and it is immune to the inverse square law.

Clarification

It doesn't fade quickly over a distance, the way gravity does

Gist of Idea

Utilitarian benevolence involves no particular attachments, and is immune to the inverse square law

Source

Bernard Williams (Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy [1985], Ch. 5)

Book Ref

Williams,Bernard: 'Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy' [Fontana 1985], p.81

A Reaction

Nicely put. The point is that the theory is inhuman, but Mill says it tells us what we should do, not what we actually tend to do.

The 25 ideas from 'Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy'

4114 Philosophers try to produce ethical theories because they falsely assume that ethics can be simple [Williams,B]
4110 Obligation and duty look backwards (because of a promise or job), although the acts are in the future [Williams,B]
4112 A crucial feature of moral thought is second-order desire - the desire to have certain desires [Williams,B]
4113 'Deon' in Greek means what one must do; there was no word meaning 'duty' [Williams,B]
4116 A weakness of contractual theories is the position of a person of superior ability and power [Williams,B]
4121 Why should I think of myself as both the legislator and the citizen who follows the laws? [Williams,B]
4122 If the self becomes completely impartial, it no longer has enough identity to worry about its interests [Williams,B]
4120 It is an error of consequentialism to think we just aim at certain states of affairs; we also want to act [Williams,B]
4124 Utilitarian benevolence involves no particular attachments, and is immune to the inverse square law [Williams,B]
4128 Intuitionism has been demolished by critics, and no longer looks interesting [Williams,B]
4132 The category of person is a weak basis for ethics, because it is not fixed but comes in degrees [Williams,B]
4131 Most women see an early miscarriage and a late stillbirth as being very different in character [Williams,B]
4133 Speciesism isn't like racism, because the former implies a viewpoint which belongs to no one [Williams,B]
4134 The weakness of prescriptivism is shown by "I simply don't like staying at good hotels" [Williams,B]
4135 Some ethical ideas, such as 'treachery' and 'promise', seem to express a union of facts and values [Williams,B]
4244 It is very confused to deduce a nonrelativist morality of universal toleration from relativism [Williams,B]
4243 Our ability to react to an alien culture shows that ethical thought extends beyond cultural boundaries [Williams,B]
4245 Ethical conviction must be to some extent passive, and can't just depend on the will and decisions [Williams,B]
4246 Taking responsibility won't cure ethical uncertainty by; we are uncertain what to decide [Williams,B]
4247 It is a mark of our having ethical values that we aim to reproduce them in our children [Williams,B]
4252 Promise keeping increases reliability, by making deliberation focus on something which would be overlooked [Williams,B]
4248 Not all moral deliberations lead to obligations; some merely reveal what 'may' be done [Williams,B]
4249 "Ought implies can" is a famous formula in connection with moral obligation [Williams,B]
4250 The concept of a 'duty to myself' is fraudulent [Williams,B]
22355 In the realist view, the real external world explains how it (and perceptions of it) are possible [Williams,B]