“I love my iPhone. I want it to work. I want my laptop not just to work, but to work every day in a whizz bang way. I want it quick. I want it reliable. I want it smooth. I want the useful things in my life to be dependable. I want the trash collected on Thursdays and the mail delivered every day. I want my flights to come and go on time and I want my luggage on the carousel when I land. I want to use the air conditioning for the temperature I choose. I want the electric, the cable, the gas and the phones all to work. In other words, I want to utilize the utilities, and in that sense, like everyone else I am utilitarian.
“But that’s where my utilitarianism ends. To understand why my utilitarianism ends there, I first have to explain where it begins, and before I explain where it begins I had better explain what it is. Utilitarianism is a very simple philosophy which believes not in good works, but that what works is good. In other words, if it does the job; if it is efficient; if solves a problem it is good. In fact this philosophy is so simple that it could be the philosophy of beasts. It is a sort of animalistic instinctive response: ‘I am hungry, so eating is good.’ ‘I am frightened so I must eliminate what I fear.’ ‘I desire pleasure, so pleasure is good.’”
In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on the place of utilitarianism vis-à-vis doing what is Good in our lives.
To access Fr. Longenecker’s complete post, please visit:
Standing on My Head: Utilitarianism – What is Good Works
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