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Single Idea 18624

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / E. Utilitarianism / 1. Utilitarianism ]

Full Idea

Utilitarianism is essentially a 'standard of rightness', not a 'decision-procedure'. ...It is an open question whether we should employ a utilitarian decision-procedure - indeed, this question itself is to be answered by examining its consequences.

Gist of Idea

Utilitarianism is not a decision-procedure; choice of the best procedure is an open question

Source

Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (1st edn) [1990], 2.3.b)

Book Ref

Kymlicka,Will: 'Contemporary Political Philosophy (1st edn)' [OUP 1992], p.29

A Reaction

The point is that the aim is to maximise happiness, and you might do that by just maximising baked bean consumption, and not even thinking about happiness. This idea is labelled 'indirect utilitarianism'. Happiness does seem to be a by-product.

The 61 ideas from Will Kymlicka

23413 Feminism has shown that social roles are far from fixed (as communitarians tend to see them) [Kymlicka]
23410 Modern liberals see a community as simply a society which respects freedom and equality [Kymlicka]
23409 Community can focus on class or citizenship or ethnicity or culture [Kymlicka]
23411 Communitarians see justice as primarily a community matter, rather than a principle [Kymlicka]
23418 Liberal state legitimacy is based on a belief in justice, not in some conception of the good life [Kymlicka]
23419 Communitarianism struggles with excluded marginalised groups [Kymlicka]
23412 Justice resolves conflicts, but may also provoke them [Kymlicka]
23415 Participation aids the quest for the good life, but why should that be a state activity? [Kymlicka]
23414 Liberals say state intervention in culture restricts people's autonomy [Kymlicka]
18623 The quest of the general good is partly undermined by people's past entitlements [Kymlicka]
18624 Utilitarianism is not a decision-procedure; choice of the best procedure is an open question [Kymlicka]
18626 One view says start with equality, and infer equal weight to interests, and hence maximum utility [Kymlicka]
18650 Teleological theories give the good priority over concern for people [Kymlicka]
18651 The most valuable liberties to us need not be the ones with the most freedom [Kymlicka]
18652 The Lockean view of freedom depends on whether you had a right to what is restricted [Kymlicka]
18627 A second view says start with maximising the good, implying aggregation, and hence equality [Kymlicka]
18625 To maximise utility should we double the population, even if life somewhat deteriorates? [Kymlicka]
18628 We shouldn't endorse preferences which reject equality, and show prejudice and selfishness [Kymlicka]
18630 Utilitarianism is no longer a distinctive political position [Kymlicka]
18629 Using utilitarian principles to make decisions encourages cold detachment from people [Kymlicka]
18632 Liberalism tends to give priority to basic liberties [Kymlicka]
18633 Equal opportunities seems fair, because your fate is from your choices, not your circumstances [Kymlicka]
18634 Equal opportunity arbitrarily worries about social circumstances, but ignores talents [Kymlicka]
18637 Utilitarianism is irrational if it tells you to trade in your rights and resources just for benefits [Kymlicka]
18635 Social contract theories are usually rejected because there never was such a contract [Kymlicka]
18638 The difference principles says we must subsidise the costs of other people's choices [Kymlicka]
18640 Libertarians like the free market, but they also think that the free market is just [Kymlicka]
18649 If everyone owned himself, that would prevent slavery [Kymlicka]
18654 Marxists say justice is unneeded in the truly good community [Kymlicka]
18655 Justice corrects social faults, but also expresses respect to individuals as ends [Kymlicka]
18656 Marxists say liberalism is unjust, because it allows exploitation in the sale of labour [Kymlicka]
18657 Communitarian states only encourage fairly orthodox ideas of the good life [Kymlicka]
18659 The 'Kantian' view of the self misses the way it is embedded or situated in society [Kymlicka]
18658 The 'Kantian' self steps back from commitment to its social situation [Kymlicka]
18660 Communitarians say we should pay more attention to our history [Kymlicka]
18661 Ancient freedom was free participation in politics, not private independence of life [Kymlicka]
18663 Modern liberalism has added personal privacy to our personal social lives [Kymlicka]
18664 Maybe the particularist moral thought of women is better than the impartial public thinking of men [Kymlicka]
23375 Minimal liberal citizenship needs common civility, as well as mere non-interference [Kymlicka]
23376 Modern non-discrimination obliges modern citizens to treat each other as equals [Kymlicka]
23377 The right wing sees citizenship in terms of responsibility to earn a living, rather than rights [Kymlicka]
23369 Some liberals thinks checks and balances are enough, without virtuous citizens [Kymlicka]
23370 Good citizens need civic virtues of loyalty, independence, diligence, respect, etc. [Kymlicka]
23373 Liberals accept that people need society, but Aristotelians must show that they need political activity [Kymlicka]
23371 Modern democratic theory focuses on talk, not votes, because we need consensus or compromise [Kymlicka]
23374 We have become attached to private life because that has become greatly enriched [Kymlicka]
23379 Rights are a part of nation-building, to build a common national identity and culture [Kymlicka]
23382 Rights derived from group membership are opposed to the idea of state citizenship [Kymlicka]
23378 The welfare state helps to integrate the working classes into a national culture [Kymlicka]
23380 Some individuals can gain citizenship as part of a group, rather than as mere individuals [Kymlicka]
23381 The status hierarchy is independent of the economic hierarchy [Kymlicka]
23383 Some multiculturalists defended the rights of cohesive minorities against liberal individualism [Kymlicka]
23384 'Culturalist' liberals say that even liberal individuals may need minority rights [Kymlicka]
23385 Multiculturalism may entail men dominating women in minority groups [Kymlicka]
23386 Liberals must prefer minority right which are freedoms, not restrictions [Kymlicka]
23387 Liberals must avoid an official culture, as well as an official religion [Kymlicka]
23388 Liberals need more than freedom; they must build a nation, through a language and institutions [Kymlicka]
23389 Why shouldn't national minorities have their own right to nation-build? [Kymlicka]
23390 In a liberal democracy all subjects of authority have a right to determine the authority [Kymlicka]
23391 Multiculturalism is liberal if it challenges inequality, conservative if it emphasises common good [Kymlicka]
22818 Liberals are not too individualistic, because people recognise and value social relations [Kymlicka]