Sunday, August 14, 2011
One more utilitarian post for the road
Premise 1: An action was taken.
1. The action was imposed on a sentient being.
2. Therefore, the action was bad.
This conclusion is false. Not all bad actions are imposed on other sentient beings; some only affect the self. In this sense, they may not be "immoral," but they are nevertheless foolish. Likewise, not all imposed actions are bad, for reasons stated below.
Premise 2: An action was taken.
1. The action caused harm -- regardless of whether it violated a sentient being's will.
2. Therefore, the action was bad.
This conclusion is also false. Harm is inherently bad, but causing harm is not, for some harm leads to a reduction of harm overall.
Premise 3: An action was taken.
1. The action was imposed on a sentient being, and/or...
2. ...the action caused harm beyond being a mere violation of the being's will.
3. The action prevented a much worse kind of harm from emerging elsewhere.
4. Therefore, the action was good.
This conclusion is true.
Sometimes, you need to kill the killer, lest he continue with his deeds uninterrupted.
Posted by Leaving Society at 7:17 PM
Labels: negative utilitarianism, utilitarianism
No comments:
No comments:
Post a Comment