Utilitarianism and the idea of university a short ethical analysis
Апстракт
The standard objection to the utilitarian vision of morality is that utilitarian so-called "Greatest-Happiness Principle" could justify counter-intuitive practices such as punishing and sacrifice of innocents, breaking of promises and manipulation. The underlying presumption is that the greatest cause (general utility, "happiness") must be capable of justifying causing suffering of the few. The fact is that, in the upbringing and education of humans (children), some degree of manipulation is needed. Instead, in that process, we use concepts which belong to deontological prescriptions ("obligations," "duties") such as "Do not lie" or "Do not steal." Our question is: Can we imagine the University guided by the simple utility principle. We must remember that a University is for adults, not for children. Why now not be open and at the University say that everything we do we do for the sake of hedonistic "happiness," not for the sake of duty. That seems suspicious for several reasons. Maybe... the most noteworthy objection is that Mill's version of the utilitarianism tends to divide humanity into two classes: moral aristocracy, which seeks "higher pleasures," and others who do not. Does that mean that utilitarians must organize secret utilitarian universities for moral aristocracy? Does it mean that moral aristocracy, according to the utility principle, should organize "deontological," manipulative public universities for lower classes?
Кључне речи:
utilitarianism / university / hedonism / consequentialismИзвор:
Filozofija i društvo, 2018, 29, 1, 73-87Издавач:
- Univerzitet u Beogradu - Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, Beograd
DOI: 10.2298/FID1801073C
ISSN: 0353-5738
WoS: 000428558500006
Scopus: 2-s2.0-85059165160
Институција/група
Filozofija / PhilosophyTY - JOUR AU - Cekić, Nenad PY - 2018 UR - http://reff.f.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/2637 AB - The standard objection to the utilitarian vision of morality is that utilitarian so-called "Greatest-Happiness Principle" could justify counter-intuitive practices such as punishing and sacrifice of innocents, breaking of promises and manipulation. The underlying presumption is that the greatest cause (general utility, "happiness") must be capable of justifying causing suffering of the few. The fact is that, in the upbringing and education of humans (children), some degree of manipulation is needed. Instead, in that process, we use concepts which belong to deontological prescriptions ("obligations," "duties") such as "Do not lie" or "Do not steal." Our question is: Can we imagine the University guided by the simple utility principle. We must remember that a University is for adults, not for children. Why now not be open and at the University say that everything we do we do for the sake of hedonistic "happiness," not for the sake of duty. That seems suspicious for several reasons. Maybe the most noteworthy objection is that Mill's version of the utilitarianism tends to divide humanity into two classes: moral aristocracy, which seeks "higher pleasures," and others who do not. Does that mean that utilitarians must organize secret utilitarian universities for moral aristocracy? Does it mean that moral aristocracy, according to the utility principle, should organize "deontological," manipulative public universities for lower classes? PB - Univerzitet u Beogradu - Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, Beograd T2 - Filozofija i društvo T1 - Utilitarianism and the idea of university a short ethical analysis EP - 87 IS - 1 SP - 73 VL - 29 DO - 10.2298/FID1801073C ER -
@article{ author = "Cekić, Nenad", year = "2018", abstract = "The standard objection to the utilitarian vision of morality is that utilitarian so-called "Greatest-Happiness Principle" could justify counter-intuitive practices such as punishing and sacrifice of innocents, breaking of promises and manipulation. The underlying presumption is that the greatest cause (general utility, "happiness") must be capable of justifying causing suffering of the few. The fact is that, in the upbringing and education of humans (children), some degree of manipulation is needed. Instead, in that process, we use concepts which belong to deontological prescriptions ("obligations," "duties") such as "Do not lie" or "Do not steal." Our question is: Can we imagine the University guided by the simple utility principle. We must remember that a University is for adults, not for children. Why now not be open and at the University say that everything we do we do for the sake of hedonistic "happiness," not for the sake of duty. That seems suspicious for several reasons. Maybe the most noteworthy objection is that Mill's version of the utilitarianism tends to divide humanity into two classes: moral aristocracy, which seeks "higher pleasures," and others who do not. Does that mean that utilitarians must organize secret utilitarian universities for moral aristocracy? Does it mean that moral aristocracy, according to the utility principle, should organize "deontological," manipulative public universities for lower classes?", publisher = "Univerzitet u Beogradu - Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, Beograd", journal = "Filozofija i društvo", title = "Utilitarianism and the idea of university a short ethical analysis", pages = "87-73", number = "1", volume = "29", doi = "10.2298/FID1801073C" }
Cekić, N.. (2018). Utilitarianism and the idea of university a short ethical analysis. in Filozofija i društvo Univerzitet u Beogradu - Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, Beograd., 29(1), 73-87. https://doi.org/10.2298/FID1801073C
Cekić N. Utilitarianism and the idea of university a short ethical analysis. in Filozofija i društvo. 2018;29(1):73-87. doi:10.2298/FID1801073C .
Cekić, Nenad, "Utilitarianism and the idea of university a short ethical analysis" in Filozofija i društvo, 29, no. 1 (2018):73-87, https://doi.org/10.2298/FID1801073C . .