Question

Some of the criticisms of utilitarianism given in the text are (multiple answer):

A) There is a problem of maximizing happiness and making the most people happy. One can make a million people mildly happy or less people maximally happy.

B) The theory is too complex when calculating all of the variables concerning pleasure and happiness.

C) There is the problem that utilitarianism promotes selfish inconsiderate behavior. We should make ourselves very happy even if it means not making the multitude happy.

D) The ends justifies the means is a problem. One might commit a bad action in order to get an overall good result.

D)

Answer 1

Ans. (B)

The most common criticism of utilitarianism is that it is impossible to apply - that happiness (etc) cannot be quantified or measured, that there is no way of calculating a trade-off between intensity and extent, or intensity and probability (etc), or comparing happiness to suffering.

If happiness was not measurable, words like "happier" or "happiest" could have no meaning: "I was happier yesterday than I am today" would make no sense at all - it can only have the meaning which we (or most of us, at any rate) know that it has if we assume that happiness can be measured and compared.