Unveiling the Inadequacy of Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is the philosophical belief that utility should be maximized, which, according to Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, that utility is whatever produces the most pleasure while minimizing the suffering of the masses. While, this, on the surface may appear desirable to some, and can and has been used effectively for bringing about better treatment the oppressed, it falls a little short of the mark as a moral code to live by. Utilitarianism, as stated, treats humanity as a means to an end, while simultaneously failing to justify why the pleasure of the masses is more important than the pleasure, or lack thereof of the minority.

First, let’s state that there is not quantifiable way measure happiness or pleasure, and

Companies, especially those struggling to turn a profit might do this in a variety of ways by streamlining their services or manufacturing, not taking on new inventory, cutting labor expense by either lowering pay or cutting jobs. To the stockholders of companies, this might look good on paper and might lead to a technical increase in profit, as the bleeding of money has stopped. Layoffs, however, tend to hurt companies in the long run for the simple fact, they are taking money out of the economy. If the now former employees of a company cannot spend money, because they have no money to spend at companies that purchased from the company that laid them off, the company that laid them off, with inevitably lose business, because the other companies that bought from them will no longer have the same amount of money to make purchases. In the same way, humans will make the attempt to remove any sort of pain away from themselves, though the pain, like the employees of a business, is needed. People want the shortest way to pleasure, even if it is only a short-term happiness that it creates. It’s the reason that fad diets exist – inevitably, the person trying the diet want to lose weight, but doesn’t want to give up foods that traditional diets, recommended by the food pyramid say to give up. In order to actually

Value, it seems is an arbitrary system, relative only to the person who is trying to make judgment calls. For example, you are more likely to save a relative or a close friend, than you are a stranger, because you see more worth in those close to you, because they increase your own individual happiness, and by increasing your own individual happiness, you are raising the happiness of the world. However, it is quite possible that the stranger you didn’t save, could have been in the process of discovering the cure for lung cancer, which would save many more lives, leading to a further increased happiness, than saving that person which was close to