Curiousity is injurying this cat...
Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 9:03 am
I don't disagree with your rant. I'm often frustrated with the news media being so wrapped up in sensationalism and negativity. Good news is boring news, which is as good as no news at all. :-5
As for your solution, however.... Not being familiar with the term utilitarian society, I looked it up. I love dictionary.com!
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
u·til·i·tar·i·an
adj.
Of, relating to, or in the interests of utility: utilitarian considerations in industrial design.
Exhibiting or stressing utility over other values; practical: plain, utilitarian kitchenware.
Of, characterized by, or advocating utilitarianism.
n.
One who advocates or practices utilitarianism.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
Utilitarianism
utilitarianism, in ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it. Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, which advocates that those actions are right which bring about the most good overall. Jeremy Bentham identified good consequences with pleasure, which is measured in terms of intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. John Stuart Mill argued that pleasures differ in quality as well as quantity and that the highest good involves the highest quality as well as quantity of pleasure. Herbert Spencer developed an evolutionary utilitarian ethics in which the principles of ethical living are based on the evolutionary changes of organic development. G. E. Moore, in his Principia Ethica (1903), presented a version of utilitarianism in which he rejected the traditional equating of good with pleasure. Later in the 20th cent., versions of utilitarianism have been propounded by J. J. C. Smart and R. M. Hare.
See J. J. C. Smart and B. Williams, Utilitarianism (1973); A. Sen and B. Williams, ed., Utilitarianism and Beyond (1982).
The problem comes with agreeing on what does the most good. In my view, giving people the freedom to strike out on their own, to succeed or fail at their own hands, is best for society as a whole. It encourages innovation, a hart work ethic, and teamwork.
Others will define the idea closer to classic communism - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need - which encourages mediocracy and complacency.
As for your solution, however.... Not being familiar with the term utilitarian society, I looked it up. I love dictionary.com!
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
u·til·i·tar·i·an
adj.
Of, relating to, or in the interests of utility: utilitarian considerations in industrial design.
Exhibiting or stressing utility over other values; practical: plain, utilitarian kitchenware.
Of, characterized by, or advocating utilitarianism.
n.
One who advocates or practices utilitarianism.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
Utilitarianism
utilitarianism, in ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it. Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, which advocates that those actions are right which bring about the most good overall. Jeremy Bentham identified good consequences with pleasure, which is measured in terms of intensity, duration, certainty, propinquity, fecundity, purity, and extent. John Stuart Mill argued that pleasures differ in quality as well as quantity and that the highest good involves the highest quality as well as quantity of pleasure. Herbert Spencer developed an evolutionary utilitarian ethics in which the principles of ethical living are based on the evolutionary changes of organic development. G. E. Moore, in his Principia Ethica (1903), presented a version of utilitarianism in which he rejected the traditional equating of good with pleasure. Later in the 20th cent., versions of utilitarianism have been propounded by J. J. C. Smart and R. M. Hare.
See J. J. C. Smart and B. Williams, Utilitarianism (1973); A. Sen and B. Williams, ed., Utilitarianism and Beyond (1982).
The problem comes with agreeing on what does the most good. In my view, giving people the freedom to strike out on their own, to succeed or fail at their own hands, is best for society as a whole. It encourages innovation, a hart work ethic, and teamwork.
Others will define the idea closer to classic communism - From each according to his ability, to each according to his need - which encourages mediocracy and complacency.