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Maybe I'm missing something obvious but it seems surprising this argument would gain any traction. It's pretty thin...

Even before you get into debates between average and total utilitarianism, even for total/maximum utility, utilitarianism is predicated on the idea that all beings are equally considered, from which the supposed egalitarianism stems. The whole premise is that utility monsters don't exist.



> from which the supposed egalitarianism stems. The whole premise is that utility monsters don't exist.

Yes, but you took the wrong lesson. Utility Monsters prove that utilitarianism is a bad model for reality.


Utility Monsters prove that utilitarianism is a bad model for reality.

I think it's a pretty big stretch to say that something that doesn't exist proves anything at all.

I've always felt utility monsters were just bad philosophy trying to throw a spanner in the works of a fairer society.


I don't think I did. Assignment of units to beings isn't a model, it's an approach.

Don't get me wrong, utilitarianism is a bad approach in reality, but this isn't why.




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