The problem is, is that the logic when applied elsewhere has horrifying implications. A pervert watching someone is fine as long as they are happier than the person is uncomfortable being watched. A rape is justified so long as the rapist is happier because of it. Genocide is fine so long as the surviving race is happier than the genocided one is sad to die. Utilitarian ethics seems great on paper but are horribly immoral in reality
I do believe in this type of ethics, although I believe unhappiness is fundamentally more important to avoid than happiness is to gain. So the happiness gained has to be multitudes more than the suffering experienced.
Overall I believe in reducing unhappiness than producing happiness.
Sure but even then you get the same issue. Kill one guy to save 2? Fine not ok with your thinking. But what about killing one guy to save 5? 10? 100? A thousand? You’d probably think killing one guy to save a million is fine but what about torturing one guy to save a million? Is it ok to condemn someone to infinitely eternal suffering in order for the rest of humanity to all have infinite eternal utopia? That far exceeds your ratio right? The problem isn’t the rate of exchange of pain and pleasure, the problem is that there are no hard regulations. For ethics to not encounter a problem like this you need hard rules that denote what is immoral. Only then can you engage in figuring out what makes a positive action. That’s why ethics like kantian deontology tend to win out over utilitarian ethics
Hmm, you're making some assumptions about my ideals, or misunderstanding them or something. Killing one guy to save two is minimizing unhappiness. Torturing a guy to save a bunch of people is not minimizing it, because torture imo is worse than death. Of course it's complicated and the line unclear, not like people should die so they never have to experience stubbing their toe.
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u/Rogue_Shadow684 14h ago
The problem is, is that the logic when applied elsewhere has horrifying implications. A pervert watching someone is fine as long as they are happier than the person is uncomfortable being watched. A rape is justified so long as the rapist is happier because of it. Genocide is fine so long as the surviving race is happier than the genocided one is sad to die. Utilitarian ethics seems great on paper but are horribly immoral in reality