Happiness

Utilitarianism - the greatest good for the greatest number. 

I studied this principle in Philosophy class last year. When I was learning about it, I thought it seemed to be more wrong than right for the majority of the time. We were given situations where we had to determine if choosing the utilitarian route was really the best way to ensure happiness among everyone, and about 70% of the time the situation led to a mutual agreement that utilitarianism is not necessarily realistic happiness. I do think that generally it is a nice principle is you are on the receiving end.

Scenario 1: City of Happiness
I understand that locking up and having one person suffering would be weighed out by the fact that hundreds of other people would remain happy and the city would remain thriving and positive, but I hate seeing or knowing that people are suffering. I think that it is wrong for anyone to suffer, because that would mean that the entire city is not necessarily realistically happy.

Scenario 2: "Hampsterdam"
The utilitarianist would say that it is a good idea to transport crime so that it is not affecting the general public, however I don't agree with this idea because I don't think it fixes anything. Hiding or moving something is not necessarily a long term solution; the crime rate will eventually ascend to the level it was at before and perhaps even surpass that level. The police need to be more diligent with this matter instead of simply giving the impression that they are simply giving up.

Scenario 3: Putting a Price on Humans
I think that placing a value on a life of a human being is an exceptionally difficult thing to to. I don't think that anyone is in liberty to actually evaluate and decide on a number for someone else's life, although this happens all the time with law injury settlements and life insurance. I would never be able to decide what another person's life is worth because I don't think it's fair.

Has your opinion changed?
No, because I knew how I felt about this before. This class has definitely solidified my opinions though. I think that it is unrealistic to live life with a utilitarian outlook.