PHIL 237 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Marginal Utility, Brad Hooker, Roger Crisp
Document Summary
Contemporary consequentialism mostly deals with problems arising from classical utilitarianism. Classical utilitarianism seems incompatible with 2 justice institutions: Distributive justice: distribution of benefits and burdens (health care and taxation) Retributive justice: distribution of rewards and punishments (criminal prosecution and good citizen"s award) Utilitarians argue against an egalitarian society if the amount of happiness units is higher in an unequal society than in an egalitarian society. The principle of utility presumably requires some to forgo greater life prospects for the sake of others. He argues that this fails to treat persons as individuals, as ends in themselves. Rawls states in his theory of justice that inequalities can only be justified if they benefit the worse-off in society. Mill would appeal to a kind of perfectionist notion of human well-being that is being violated by this unequal distribution it is not benefitting us to take advantage of others for the sake of our own well-being.