Transcript ulititarianism as an operative soical philosophy

Utilitarianism as an
Operative Social Philosophy
Science and Religion: Irreconcilable?
Albert Einstein’s definition of religion.
As regards religion, on the other hand, one is generally agreed
that it deals with goals and evaluations and, in general, with
the emotional foundation of human thinking and acting, as far
as these are not predetermined by the inalterable hereditary
disposition of the human species. Religion is concerned with
man's attitude toward nature at large, with the establishing of
ideals for the individual and communal life, and with mutual
human relationship. These ideals religion attempts to attain by
exerting an educational influence on tradition and through the
development and promulgation of certain easily accessible
thoughts and narratives (epics and myths) which are apt to
influence evaluation and action along the lines of the accepted
ideals.
What is the individual ideal?
It’s empowerment.
– The history of things like slavery, women’s rights, and
“spare the rod...” convinced me of the importance of this
ideal.
Empowerment, however, is NOT the Communal Ideal
Why not?
Well there is this guy...
And this guy...
And this guy...
And do you really want to empower this guy?
In short,
One should not seek to empower everyone because certain
individuals’ empowerment will lead to others being harmed.
If empowerment is not the communal ideal, then what is?
It’s justice.
What is justice?
People take up different definitions and use different philosophies of
justice (divine command, retribution, restorative, distributive,
Kant, John Rawls, Aristotle, libertarianism, utilitarianism, others?)
– I assert that utilitarianism is the most useful definition.
Why use Utilitarianism?
Essentially, utilitarianism is the maximization of the individual ideal
at the communal level.
– Individual ideal = empowerment
– Communal ideal = empowerment of the most people =
Utilitarianism
What is Utilitarianism?
“An ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is
the one that maximizes the overall "happiness”
• Epicurus, the first utilitarian?
• Francis Hutchinson
– action is best, which produces the greatest happiness for
the greatest numbers; and that, worst, which, in like
manner, occasions misery.
• William Paley, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stewart Mill
Any Questions?
The Levels
The individual and communal ideals made me realize the
need to address problems at different social levels.
The levels being addressed in this presentation are:
• The Individual Level
• The Interpersonal Level
• The Societal Level
The Individual Level
Empowerment vs. Obedience
He was not
empowered
This guy liked it that
way…
“Slavery was established by
decree of almighty god, it is
sanctioned in the bible in
both testaments and from
Genesis to Revelation. It has
existed in all ages and has
been found among people of
the highest civilization, and
in nations of the highest
proficiency of the arts”
- Jefferson Davis
This guy didn’t...
(Thomas Paine led
Pennsylvania to
become the first
state to enact
emancipation
legislation.)
“Religion need always aim at preserving and promoting the
sanity and vitality of the community and its individuals,
since otherwise this community is bound to perish.” - Albert
Einstein
How can this be done?
Truth to power
What is Truth to Power?
Truth to power is a phrase
developed by the
American Friends
Service Community
(i.e. a Quaker charitable
group) as a reaction
against totalitarianism
and McCarthyism.
Truth to Power
Is the Christian Church an active supporter of
Truth to Power?
I assert that the church believes in several positions which detriment
this concept.
• Homosexuality
• Premarital sex
• Religious heresy
• Original sin
• Others?
Any questions?
Interpersonal Level
Utilitarian Morality Vs Biblical Morality and Moral Relativism
Several Christians tend to believe in:
Divine command - an action is morally good if it is commanded by
God.
The problem - The bible is filled with commands of God
which lead to people being harmed (slavery, spousal abuse,
child abuse, genocide, etc.)
Moral absolutism - the belief that certain actions are absolutely
right or wrong, devoid of the context of the act.
The problem - There are very few moral absolutes.
I refer to this combination as biblical morality as I am not sure
what else to call it.
Consider the following
Moral absolutism
Thou shall not murder.
The reality
Hitler should be murdered if it means saving lives.
Thou shall not steal.
Robin Hood should steal if it means saving his
people from starvation.
Thou shall not lie.
The undercover cop should lie when he is asked
about his occupation.
Thou shall respect one’s parents.The child should runaway from his abusive parents
(to appropriate authorities).
Thou shall be loyal.
The underling whom learns about his corporation’s
inappropriate disposal of toxic waste should
inform on them.
Utilitarian morality is based in consequentialism.
Consequentialism - the belief that the consequences of one's
conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the
rightness of that conduct.
One common criticism
- Humans aren’t omniscient and therefore can’t understand
all the possible consequences of an action.
Liberals are often accused of moral relativism.
Moral relativism is the belief that there is no objective reason to
believe that one set of religious or cultural values are any more
correct than another set of religious or cultural values.
The problem - Religious and cultural values are not subjective.
Moral relativism is very prevalent in our society though many of
you may not be aware of the term.
– The literal definitions of freedom of religion and freedom of
expression descend into moral relativism; as do the expressed
desires to promote tolerance, and eliminate discrimination
and intolerance.
Consider the following
Moral Relativism
All religions should be tolerated
irrespective of their beliefs.
(a.k.a. Religious Tolerance)
The Reality
What about the teachings of Muslim
extremists? Or the pedophile preacher
Warren Jeffs?
No one should be subjected to
discrimination, prejudice, or
stereotypes.
What about discriminating the murderer from
the civilian? What about using prejudice to
win at poker? What about a black man using
stereotypes to avoid pointy white hat
wearers?
People should be able to speak
without government interference.
(a.k.a. Freedom of Expression /
Freedom of the Press)
What about sexual harassment? Or libel?
Or slander? Or selling troop positions? Or
advertising defective products? Or
conning people? Or shouting “bomb” in a
crowded movie theater?
If concepts such as discrimination and freedom of expression are
not moral in and of themselves, then how can one define morality?
Through utilitarianism.
– Justified discrimination is moral, unjustified
discrimination is immoral (where justice is defined as
the greatest good for the greatest number).
– Justified forms of expression are moral (MLK Jr.),
unjustified forms of expression are immoral (sexual
harassment).
What is Morality?
A user-friendly definition of morality is achieved when one combines
a justice based in utilitarianism with the words tolerance and
intolerance. This results in four different combinations.
• Justified intolerance
• Justified tolerance
• Unjustified intolerance
• Unjustified tolerance
Justified tolerance and justified intolerance form the foundation of
utilitarian morality. And unjustified intolerance and unjustified
tolerance form the foundation of utilitarian immorality.
Justified intolerance = using intolerance to create the greatest
good for the greatest number of people.
It is used by this guy to
incarcerate criminals.
And it is used by this lady
to fight for civil rights.
Justified tolerance = using tolerance to create the greatest
good for the greatest number of people.
He was good at promoting it.
Unjustified intolerance = using intolerance to harm the
greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Unjustified tolerance = using tolerance to harm the greatest
good for the greatest number of people.
He was good at promoting it.
Lets pause for questions.
Religion at the Societal Level
Cooperative Intelligence vs. Competitive Faith
The tragedy of the commons.
Einstein’s definition of religion
These ideals religion attempts to attain by exerting an
educational influence on tradition and through the
development and promulgation of certain easily accessible
thoughts and narratives (epics and myths) which are apt to
influence evaluation and action along the lines of the
accepted ideals.
How can one exert an educational influence so that the
individual and communal ideals are achieved?
Memetics
What is a meme?
A meme is an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person
to person within a culture.
• Memes can be bad and harm the society.
“Homosexuality is a sin.”
• They can be good and help the society.
“Homosexual relationships deserve to have the same
rights as heterosexual relationships.”
• Or they can be neutral.
The dance steps to the Cha Cha.
Which is meme is better for society?
Which meme is better for society?
As these products demonstrate, memes can change over time.
A meme can change for the better.
- a change from the idea radioactivity is good for you to the
idea radioactivity is bad for you.
Or memes can change for the worse.
- a change from the behavior of eating healthier foods such
turkey, corn, and red wine (as well as some unhealthy ones
such as rum and tobacco) to the widespread consumption of
corn syrup.
A religion or culture should want to create the first type of memes
and not the second.
How can this be done?
A Three Step Process for Social Reform
1. Discover beneficial memes.
2. Cooperate by getting people to agree that the memes are
beneficial.
3. Apply the beneficial memes.
An example.
Step 1 - Discover the
beneficial meme(s).
“Dying from cancer is not
empowering. Don’t eat
uranium.”
Step 2 - Cooperate by getting
people to agree that the
meme(s) is/are beneficial.
“Oh my! Radiation scary.
Don’t eat uranium.”
Step 3 - Apply the beneficial
memes.
“Don’t eat uranium. Put it in
the lead container.”
When each of those three steps are followed, then a social
improvement is achieved.
Unfortunately it doesn’t always happen that way. Lets use
two different examples to illustrate this.
– Pittsburgh and their child protection agency.
– Florida and their child protection agency.
Back in the 1990’s both Pittsburgh and Florida had a problem
with their child protection agencies.
Pittsburgh replaced the head of
the department with this guy.
(Marc Cherna)
Florida was led by this guy.
(The one on the right, in
case you are confused.)
This guy is intelligent.
• 1. Marc Cherna promoted the
beneficial meme “Families should
be preserved when it is safe to do
so.”
• 2. Local universities, foundations,
law firms (and others) cooperated
with Cherna and his meme to help
discover how best to reform the
agency, how to fund innovative
programs, and how to proceed with
things like adoption cases.
• 3. Marc Cherna et al applied the
meme of “family preservation when
safe to do so” by creating housing
counselors to avoid the separation of
families due to housing issues, and
by creating a family transportation /
visitation program to keep the
parents connected to their children
(among many other things).
Marc Cherna’s actions led to these headlines
• Child welfare agency in county draws national praise.
• DHS Director accepts honors.
– Cherna will be honored by his peers as this year’s recipient of the
Betsey R. Rosenbaum Award for Excellence in Public Child
Welfare Administration.
• Pitt's Institute of Politics Bestows Coleman Award on Two Notable
Pittsburghers
– Under Cherna's direction, the DHS Forensics Program received a
2005 Innovations in American Government Award from the Ash
Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard
University's Kennedy School of Government.
Are there combined IQs
equal to Marc Cherna’s?
• Jeb Bush promoted the harmful
meme “The Kayla McKean
Child Protection Act is helpful.”
and the harmful meme NCCPR
characterized as “Take the child
and run.”
• Jeb’s mandated reporters, child
abuse center screeners, and
DCF workers cooperatively
agreed to these memes.
• Jeb’s mandated reporters,
screeners, and DCF workers
applied these memes. This led
to the overburdening of the
foster care system.
Jeb Bush’s actions led to these headlines.
• Legislators rip governor, DCF.
• Miami 5-Year-Old Missing for Year Before Fact Noted
• Boy who died was left in bad home. DCF took siblings, left the
youngest.
• Siblings recall seven years of abuse while under agency’s care.
• DCF Finds Files Hidden In Ceiling.
– A box of confidential child-abuse files was found stashed above
the ceiling tiles of a West Palm Beach office building formerly
leased to the state Department of Children & Families.
It also led to several things that should have been headlines.
(taken from NCCPR’s The Lengthening Shadow)
• DCF took the boy away nearly two years ago. Keith McConnico was
not accused of abusing his son. He is not a drug addict. Keith
McConnico’s only crime is to be handicapped and need some help to
raise the boy. Rather than provide the help, DCF took the boy.
• In Hillsborough county, one family has 12 foster children, all age 5 and
under. Another has 13 children, most of them teenagers. And in another
home foster parents aged 73 and 67 care for seven children — none of
them more than two-years-old.
• The review found that even in Sarasota, there was documented
evidence of abuse in foster care in 12 percent of the cases. And in
Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, there was evidence that foster
parents abused the children entrusted to them in nearly one-third of the
records sampled. Furthermore, in only 30 percent of these cases is
there evidence that DCF made "an appropriate change in the
placement” after the abuse was discovered.
In short,
Marc Cherna created social improvements by promoting beneficial
memes, having people cooperatively believe in these memes, and
applying them.
Jeb Bush created social problems by promoting harmful memes,
having people cooperatively believe in these memes, and applying
them.
What does this have to do with Utilitarianism?
Greatest Good
Marc Cherna ------------------------------------->
-------------------------------------------------<-------------------------Jeb Bush
One would think a MAJOR child welfare scandal
would prevent one’s reelection.
One would be wrong.
– Jeb was first elected in
1998.
– NCCPR reports critical of
Jeb Bush’s DCF policies
came out in 2000 and 2001.
– Jeb Bush was reelected in
2002.
Jeb Bush is Brilliant!
Marc Cherna is a moron!
Jeb Bush is a Moron!
Marc Cherna is Brilliant!
Religions should instead want to create “intelligent cooperation” by finding
the beneficial memes (“Marc Cherna is brilliant. Follow him.”), creating
cooperation amongst the society (“Republicans for Marc Cherna.”), and
applying the beneficial memes (“Hire assistant of Marc Cherna?”).
In other words, this
To recap,
• The individual ideal is empowerment.
• The communal ideal is justice.
• Truth to Power was developed by the Quakers and is a useful technique to
produce empowerment and counteract falsehoods.
• Moral absolutism and moral relativism fail as moral outlooks.
• Utilitarian morality is about utilizing justified tolerance and justified
intolerance.
• Utilitarian immorality is about utilizing unjustified tolerance and unjustified
intolerance.
• Memes can be beneficial, harmful, or neutral.
• Social improvements can be achieved by finding beneficial memes, getting
people to agree that the memes are beneficial, and applying the memes.
• Organizations can aid in this process by promoting intelligent cooperation
(accepting Marc Cherna) or deter this process by promoting competitive faith
(backing Jeb Bush).