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Full Idea
Utilitarianism (socialism, democracy) criticises the origins of moral evaluations, but it believes them just as much as the Christian does.
Gist of Idea
Utilitarianism criticises the origins of morality, but still believes in it as much as Christians
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (The Will to Power (notebooks) [1888], §253)
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Will to Power', ed/tr. Kaufmann,W /Hollingdate,R [Vintage 1968], p.147
A Reaction
It is a critique of both utilitarianism and Kantian deontology that they seem to rest on unquestioned assumptions about what has value (pleasure, happiness, reason). I think Aristotle offers a better answer to this problem than 'divine' authority.
| 3923 | No one would cause pain to a complete stranger who happened to be passing [Hume] |
| 3924 | Nature makes private affections come first, because public concerns are spread too thinly [Hume] |
| 3770 | General happiness is only desirable because individuals desire their own happiness [Mill] |
| 2884 | The morality of slaves is the morality of utility [Nietzsche] |
| 4501 | Utilitarianism criticises the origins of morality, but still believes in it as much as Christians [Nietzsche] |
| 22404 | Any group interested in ethics must surely have a sentiment of generalised benevolence [Smart] |
| 4124 | Utilitarian benevolence involves no particular attachments, and is immune to the inverse square law [Williams,B] |
| 3262 | Utilitarianism is too demanding [Nagel] |