Mill's Utilitarianism
When faced with a moral dilemma, utilitarianism identifies the appropriate
considerations, but offers no realistic way to gather the necessary information
to make the required calculations. This lack of information is a problem both
in evaluating the welfare issues and in
evaluating the consequentialist issues which
utilitarianism requires
be weighed when making moral decisions. Utilitarianism attempts to
solve both of these difficulties by appealing to experience; however,
no method of reconciling an individual decision with the rules of
experience is suggested, and no relative weights are assigned to the
various considerations. In deciding whether or not to torture a
terrorist who has planted a bomb in New
York City, a utilitarian must
evaluate both the overall welfare of the people involved or effected
by the action taken, and the consequences of the action taken. To
calculate the welfare of the people involved in or effected
by an
action, utilitarianism requires that all individuals be considered
equally.
