| IMPLICATIONS OF UTILITARIANISM (1) Jerry D. McDonald |
We live in an age when just about anything goes. People think that they
should be allowed to do whatever makes them feel good. Most, today, think
that this was some new ideology that was invented by the “hippies” in the
60's. However, this idea of doing what gives one pleasure is not new by any
means. It goes back further than the days in which the New Testament was
being written. Luke writes of the Epicureans in writing about Paul’s sermon
on Mars Hill,
“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks,
encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He
seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them
Jesus, and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18).
These Epicureans were well known for a doctrine which later became known
as the philosophy of “Utilitarianism.” They believed that if something
brought a person joy that this is what they should do, and if it didn’t bring
them joy then they should avoid it. The problem with this philosophy was the
implication of it. It implied that whatever brought a person joy is what that
person should do. So if it brought a person joy to steal someone else’s spouse
then that is what that person should do. However, this is not what the
Epicureans meant by it. They meant that a person should do whatever
brought the most joy for the majority of people. However, the implication was
where they went wrong. They soon degraded into the idea of “eat, drink and
be merry, for tomorrow we die.” This philosophy was criticized by other
nations as a “philosophy fit only for pigs.”
Jeremy Bentham (who was born in 1748) came along re-establishing this
philosophy in his work “The Principles Of Morals and Legislation” published
in 1781. On page 1, chapter 1 under the heading “Of The Principle of Utility”
he wrote: “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign
masters, pain and pleasure. It is them alone to point out what we ought to do,
as well as determine what we shall do.” In his book “What Is Atheism: A
Short Introduction” atheistic professor Douglas Kruger (a professor of
philosophy at the Northwest Arkansas Community College in Fayetteville, AR
tried to explain what Bentham meant in such a way so as to lead people to
think that Bentham’s theory was a good theory. He wrote: “Of course, this
does not mean that one would choose these actions with an eyebrow toward
how much happiness or unhappiness is caused only for oneself” (p.56). Those
pushing this doctrine, as far back as the Epicureans, all have stated that this
does not mean that each person is to do only what makes him happy. They all
cry that man is to do only what makes mankind happy.
Man has always dreamed of this type of Utopia. In the 60's the sci-fi series
“Star Trek” was based upon the idea that man was no longer immature and
that we had put our childish differences behind us and that now earth was a
perfect Utopia where everyone cared for everyone else. Poverty, war, and
wealth had all been done away with. Every Star Trek series since then (all the
movies; The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise all)
have followed in this mighty dream for mankind.
However this is nothing more than a pipe dream. It will never exist with
people rejecting the only book that will bring total happiness; the Bible. What
happens today is the same thing that has happened in the days of the
Epicureans. The principle sounds lofty and good, but the implication is evil.
When people start trying to live by this principle they take it wrong (they
always have and they always will) because it implies that each person should
do whatever makes him happy. He forgets about the happiness of the rest of
mankind and goes for his own happiness.
This is why, even though the Bible tells men that “whosoever looketh on a
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart” (Mt. 5:28) they look at a woman and lust after her and then it doesn’t
stay just in the heart, but most will go and break up that woman’s family and
his own just to have her, only to find out that she was no better than his wife.
He was thinking only of himself. He did not think of the heartache that he
was going to bring to two families and to even himself because it made him
happy to have this woman even if it was short lived.
People live this philosophy every day, which is why we have so much crime in
our world. Criminals have often said, when asked why they committed the
crimes they committed, that they did it because it made them happy; they
wanted to do it. They were simply living the logical implication of this
ideology. The Epicureans denied the implications; Bentham and John Stuart
Mills, denied the implication and people who practice this doctrine, today, deny
this implication. However, people always have lived according to the
implications of Utilitarianism, and they always will as long as this evil doctrine
is followed. This doctrine is a philosophy fit only for pigs. We will continue to
look at this idea in weeks to come.
should be allowed to do whatever makes them feel good. Most, today, think
that this was some new ideology that was invented by the “hippies” in the
60's. However, this idea of doing what gives one pleasure is not new by any
means. It goes back further than the days in which the New Testament was
being written. Luke writes of the Epicureans in writing about Paul’s sermon
on Mars Hill,
“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks,
encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He
seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them
Jesus, and the resurrection” (Acts 17:18).
These Epicureans were well known for a doctrine which later became known
as the philosophy of “Utilitarianism.” They believed that if something
brought a person joy that this is what they should do, and if it didn’t bring
them joy then they should avoid it. The problem with this philosophy was the
implication of it. It implied that whatever brought a person joy is what that
person should do. So if it brought a person joy to steal someone else’s spouse
then that is what that person should do. However, this is not what the
Epicureans meant by it. They meant that a person should do whatever
brought the most joy for the majority of people. However, the implication was
where they went wrong. They soon degraded into the idea of “eat, drink and
be merry, for tomorrow we die.” This philosophy was criticized by other
nations as a “philosophy fit only for pigs.”
Jeremy Bentham (who was born in 1748) came along re-establishing this
philosophy in his work “The Principles Of Morals and Legislation” published
in 1781. On page 1, chapter 1 under the heading “Of The Principle of Utility”
he wrote: “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign
masters, pain and pleasure. It is them alone to point out what we ought to do,
as well as determine what we shall do.” In his book “What Is Atheism: A
Short Introduction” atheistic professor Douglas Kruger (a professor of
philosophy at the Northwest Arkansas Community College in Fayetteville, AR
tried to explain what Bentham meant in such a way so as to lead people to
think that Bentham’s theory was a good theory. He wrote: “Of course, this
does not mean that one would choose these actions with an eyebrow toward
how much happiness or unhappiness is caused only for oneself” (p.56). Those
pushing this doctrine, as far back as the Epicureans, all have stated that this
does not mean that each person is to do only what makes him happy. They all
cry that man is to do only what makes mankind happy.
Man has always dreamed of this type of Utopia. In the 60's the sci-fi series
“Star Trek” was based upon the idea that man was no longer immature and
that we had put our childish differences behind us and that now earth was a
perfect Utopia where everyone cared for everyone else. Poverty, war, and
wealth had all been done away with. Every Star Trek series since then (all the
movies; The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise all)
have followed in this mighty dream for mankind.
However this is nothing more than a pipe dream. It will never exist with
people rejecting the only book that will bring total happiness; the Bible. What
happens today is the same thing that has happened in the days of the
Epicureans. The principle sounds lofty and good, but the implication is evil.
When people start trying to live by this principle they take it wrong (they
always have and they always will) because it implies that each person should
do whatever makes him happy. He forgets about the happiness of the rest of
mankind and goes for his own happiness.
This is why, even though the Bible tells men that “whosoever looketh on a
woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart” (Mt. 5:28) they look at a woman and lust after her and then it doesn’t
stay just in the heart, but most will go and break up that woman’s family and
his own just to have her, only to find out that she was no better than his wife.
He was thinking only of himself. He did not think of the heartache that he
was going to bring to two families and to even himself because it made him
happy to have this woman even if it was short lived.
People live this philosophy every day, which is why we have so much crime in
our world. Criminals have often said, when asked why they committed the
crimes they committed, that they did it because it made them happy; they
wanted to do it. They were simply living the logical implication of this
ideology. The Epicureans denied the implications; Bentham and John Stuart
Mills, denied the implication and people who practice this doctrine, today, deny
this implication. However, people always have lived according to the
implications of Utilitarianism, and they always will as long as this evil doctrine
is followed. This doctrine is a philosophy fit only for pigs. We will continue to
look at this idea in weeks to come.
| "Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth" (Jno. 17:17). bellecofc.centurytel.net |
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