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  • The Epistemic and Informational Requirements of Utilitarianism

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    Author(s)
    Breakey, Hugh
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Breakey, Hugh E.
    Year published
    2009
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    A recurring objection confronting utilitarianism is that its dictates require information that lies beyond the bounds of human epistemic wherewithal. Utilitarians require reliable knowledge of the social consequences of various policies, and of people's preferences and utilities. Agreeing partway with the sceptics, I concur that the general rules-of-thumb offered by social science do not provide sufficient justification for the utilitarian legislator to rationally recommend a particular political regime, such as liberalism. Actual data about human preference-structures and utilities is required tobridge this evidentiary gap. ...
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    A recurring objection confronting utilitarianism is that its dictates require information that lies beyond the bounds of human epistemic wherewithal. Utilitarians require reliable knowledge of the social consequences of various policies, and of people's preferences and utilities. Agreeing partway with the sceptics, I concur that the general rules-of-thumb offered by social science do not provide sufficient justification for the utilitarian legislator to rationally recommend a particular political regime, such as liberalism. Actual data about human preference-structures and utilities is required tobridge this evidentiary gap. I offer two arguments to support the availability of such information. First, I contend that ordinary human beings have a clear method of epistemic access to reliable information about commensurable preference-structures. Second, in an attempt to shift the onus of philosophic argument, I show that the utilitarian legislator's requirements do not differ in kind from those implicitly called upon by the sceptical deontic liberal.
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    Journal Title
    Utilitas
    Volume
    21
    Issue
    1
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953820808003373
    Copyright Statement
    © 2009 International Society for Utilitarian Studies. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
    Subject
    Philosophy
    Ethical theory
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/40425
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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