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Arguments for Utilitarianism | Utilitarianism.net

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You cannot prove a moral theory. Whatever arguments you come up with, it is always possible for someone else to reject your premises—if they are willing to accept the costs of doing so. Different theories offer different advantages. This chapter will set out some of the major considerations that plausibly count in favor of utilitarianism. A complete view also needs to consider the costs of utilitarianism (or the advantages of its competitors), which is addressed in the chapter Objections to Utilitarianism. You can then reach an all-things-considered judgment as to which moral theory strikes you as overall best or most plausible. To this end, moral philosophers typically use the methodology of reflective equilibrium.1 This involves balancing two broad kinds of evidence as applied to moral theories: General principles can be challenged by coming up with putative counterexamples, or cases in which they give an intuitively incorrect verdict. In response to such putative counterexamples, we

Arguments for Utilitarianism | Utilitarianism.net Arguments for Utilitarianism Table of Contents Introduction: Moral Methodology & Reflective Equilibrium You cannot prove a moral theory. Whatever arguments you come up with, it's always possible for someone else to reject your premises—if they are willing to accept the costs of doing so. Different theories offer different advantages. This chapter will set out some of the major considerations that plausibly count in favor of utilitarianism. A complete view also needs to consider the costs of utilitarianism (or the advantages of its competitors),

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