Utilitarianism and the Conflict of Interests

Bibliographic Data

ID6285368
AuthorsJ Moreh (Queen's University Belfast, corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume29
Issue1
Pages137-159
Publication date1985-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Conflict Resolution (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0027 • E-ISSN: 1552-8766
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022002785029001007
OpenAlexW2141297842
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited34

Utilitarianism has most relevance to “helping behavior” where the agent's action is parametric, that is, the behavior of others can be taken as given. The utilitarian principle has also been applied to strategic behavior, that is, behavior that can be represented by a game. It is shown in this article that the utilitarian objective may conflict with common sense ethics, and where it does not, questions of equity may arise for which Utilitarianism has no answer. Utilitarian writers have paid scant attention to the games of exchange and externality. In neither of these games does the utilitarian approach agree with our moral intuitions. Apart from this, if all goods either entered into exchange or gave rise to externalities, then the utilitarian solution to these problems would be tantamount to a distribution of welfare that maximized total utility. Such a distribution would be unfair to those who have a relatively low capacity to enjoy goods and to those who suffer negative externalities but impose light ones on others or none at all

Action (physics · Distribution (mathematics · Economics · Equity (law · Externality · Market economy · Microeconomics · Political science · Positive economics · Utilitarianism · Welfare · Economic Theory and Institutions · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Game Theory and Voting Systems · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology