- 03 Jul 2013 17:18
#14265721
This is precisely the problem: why would you say the industrial revolution was a good thing if it immiserated the majority of the population? Do you count the happiness of generations that come after the industrial revolution, if so, you still care about the majority (you just increased the sample size)
I prefer the thought experiment I mentioned above (placing yourself in the POV of the unborn). Satisfaction can be gauged through democratic means (one (wo)man, one vote prevents a utility monster from manipulating a democratic election), studying human nature and having a high level of personal freedoms helps a lot. But to be honest I'm content with having a society that doesn't base everything it does on a single principle: human nature isn't that simple.
Potemkin wrote:And the good of society as a whole is not necessarily identical to the good of the individual members of that society. For example, the Industrial Revolution transformed British society and vastly expanded its forces of production, yet at the same time (and necessarily) it immiserated the majority of the population.
This is precisely the problem: why would you say the industrial revolution was a good thing if it immiserated the majority of the population? Do you count the happiness of generations that come after the industrial revolution, if so, you still care about the majority (you just increased the sample size)
Eran wrote:How do you compare, aggregate, add, subtract, measure or quantify happiness? Without being able to do the above, how can you work your way from the happiness of individuals to the "greater good"?
I prefer the thought experiment I mentioned above (placing yourself in the POV of the unborn). Satisfaction can be gauged through democratic means (one (wo)man, one vote prevents a utility monster from manipulating a democratic election), studying human nature and having a high level of personal freedoms helps a lot. But to be honest I'm content with having a society that doesn't base everything it does on a single principle: human nature isn't that simple.