Utilitarianism is the belief, the highest good, that we should all strive for, is the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Happiness can be defined in terms of pure pleasure, though some theories allow in other factors too. It is also not that rare of a theory for modern philosophers to propose. J. J. C. Smart was an Australian philosopher and defender of utilitarianism. He also was an ethical nihilist. Anyways, I can think of at least one problem with utilitarianism. Why do these people think it is their job to make everyone happy? What if someone doesn't want to be happy? What if they want to be miserable? Shouldn't that be their choice too? That actually, I think, is what is really what human beings and human societies should strive for. The freedom for every human being, to live their lives, and do as they wish, as long as it does not harm the rights or well-being of other humans, or sentient creatures. I have also come up with a hypothetical example, to illustrate my point. The year is 2553. And humans live in a perfect utopian society. No crime. No disease. No pain of any kind. But there is just one fly in the ointment, in all of this. The past. Humans didn't always live this way. War. Famine. The Spanish Inquisition. You get the idea. So the perfectly benevolent, totally utilitarian, government deals with this problem by rewriting history. Famine? Never happened. Spanish Inquisition? What Spanish Inquisition? That never happened either, as far as these utopians know. But many humans believe it their right to know what the past was like. To know humans past mistakes, and learn from them. So what business does this allegedly utopian government have, in thinking they can rewrite history, just to spare our feelings? I trust I have made my point. What do the rest of you think?
Doesn't their capability of being what they want to be, miserable, make them happy in their present situation of miserableness?
Your post makes no sense. First of all, if Smart was an ethical nihilist, how could he consistently defend an ethical theory like utilitarianism? Second, do the people know that the government has rewritten history? If not, what's the problem? If they do, and it upsets them, then you have a misguided government that isn't pursing utilitarian ends, even though it thinks it is.
