{"id":11221,"date":"2014-03-05T10:16:33","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T15:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?p=11221"},"modified":"2014-03-05T10:16:33","modified_gmt":"2014-03-05T15:16:33","slug":"why-utilitarianism-is-useless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Utilitarianism is Useless"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Here<\/a> is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative\u2013on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings about the greatest evil for the greatest number.<\/p>\n

when applied to social systems, utilitarianism is useless. The practical proposal of the utilitarian is to ask \u201cwhat brings about the greatest good for the greatest number?\u201d This motto was coined by the eccentric Englishman Jeremy Bentham (1748 -1832). Bentham also observed, \u201cpain and pleasure are the sovereign masters governing man\u2019s conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest good for the greatest number. Motivate with pain and pleasure.\u201d It sounds like it should work. However, the problems with utilitarianism become clear once you begin to press it a little. The first problem with utilitarianism is personal opinion. We might agree that we want the greatest good for the greatest number, but we can\u2019t agree on what is good in the first place. Personal opinions vary.<\/p>\n

Without some external and greater criteria, who is to say what is \u201cgood\u201d and who gets to make the choice? We only have to look at Stalinist Russia to see a case history of certain people deciding what would be \u201cthe greatest good for the greatest number\u201d and the result was a great good for a small number and a great evil for a greater number.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the whole article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative\u2013on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings about the greatest evil for the greatest number. when applied to social systems, utilitarianism is useless. The practical proposal of the utilitarian is to ask \u201cwhat brings about the greatest good for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Utilitarianism is Useless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative--on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Utilitarianism is Useless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative--on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-05T15:16:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/files\/2014\/03\/Stalin-300x201.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html\",\"name\":\"Why Utilitarianism is Useless\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-05T15:16:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-05T15:16:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\"},\"description\":\"Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative--on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Utilitarianism is Useless\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Utilitarianism is Useless","description":"Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative--on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Utilitarianism is Useless","og_description":"Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative--on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html","og_site_name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","article_published_time":"2014-03-05T15:16:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/files\/2014\/03\/Stalin-300x201.jpg"}],"author":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html","name":"Why Utilitarianism is Useless","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-05T15:16:33+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-05T15:16:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad"},"description":"Here is my latest article for The Imaginative Conservative--on why utilitarianism does not bring the greatest good for the greatest number, but brings","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2014\/03\/why-utilitarianism-is-useless.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Utilitarianism is Useless"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","caption":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}