Utilitariainism by Means of Egoism?, Part III
It is plain that the title of this series is misleading. For utilitarianism is not necessarily served by egoism, even as qualified as Part I makes it, because people, when left free, can and will make mistakes. So, taking when seems to me everything in account, utilitarianism is promoted by (1) a social system of simple rules which create such incentives as to make individual profit and the good of society to subsist in a long-term harmony; (2) prescribing certain voluntarily discharged duties, such as helping the poor or donating to the church, that redistribute resources within the social value scale to satisfy the most urgent needs; and (3) teaching people how to avoid failing in their undertakings.
Posted: February 5th, 2009 under Ethics, Philosophy.