"Ethics is not always simple. According to Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and a founder of moral utilitarianism, in his book, The Principles of Morals and Legislation, the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation. This idea gives justification for democracy and majority rule. But there is a classic dilemma with this as summarized by Andre Comte-Sponvilles question, in his work, Petit Traite: If you had to condemn one innocent (or torture one child, as Dostoevsky frames it) to save humankind, should you do it? [Another less drastic but similar question would be the Robin Hood dilemma, Is it morally acceptable to steal even if it is from a rich minority to give to a poor majority?] No! most philosophers say. Immanuel Kant, in his book, The Philosophy of Law: An Exposition of the Fundamental Principles of Jurisprudence as the Science of Right says, For if justice were to disappear human existence on Earth would be of no value. Comte-Sponville goes further: This is where utilitarianism reaches its limit. If justice were merely a contract of convenience...a maximization of the collective well-being...it would be fair, in order to ensure the well-being of almost everyone, to sacrifice the few without their consent and even if they were perfectly innocent and defenceless. That, however, is just what justice forbids, or should forbid. John Rawls, drawing on Kant, is quite right in this respect: justice is worth more than well-being or efficiency, and is better than either, and must not be sacrificed to them, even for the happiness of the greatest number. This is the basis of human rights which define what the majority can never over-ride even in a democracy. Simply the majority alone cannot decide what is right. Might is not right. This is why for example the Founding Fathers of the United States in their profound philosophical and practical wisdom went out of their way to enshrine certain human rights in their actions and social contract with the people. For example, the United States Declaration of Independence lists Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness among the unalienable rights or sovereign rights of man and The Bill of Rights, which protects the natural rights of liberty and property, is included as the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. [The contemporary American philosopher, John Rawls, in his book, A Theory of Justice (2005), formulated one of the most important critiques of utilitarianism. He rejected the doctrine of collective happiness as ultimate justification for our acts and proposed in its stead respect for the inviolability of individual rights, along with the principle of equal freedom and equitable cooperation, which is consistent with the Golden Rule, found in nearly all major religions although phrased in different ways, of equally treating each person as wed like to be treated if we were in their place.] "
Seymour@imagi-natives.com
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