Hipsters and Irony

RE: our conversation about fixed gear bicycles and hipsters.

Here is another philosophical assessment.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/how-to-live-without-irony/

Revised Schedule, 11-20 to 12-20

20th	Justice: Mill, Utilitarianism, Ch. 5; Sidgwick: Methods of Ethics, 439-448; Second essay assigned
23rd	Class cancelled--Thanksgiving
27th	Mill, Of Liberty, Chapter 5
30th	P. Singer, “Utilitarianism and Vegetarianism”
December 4th	Thomas Nagel, “War and Massacre”
7th	Debates
11th	Final exam review
14th	Second essay due
20th, 1:30 p.m.	Final Examination

Common Sense is Not So Common

Conclusion: The Utilitarian Method is crucial in helping determine the moral action in experiences in which common sense cannot be used.  Common-sense morality does not apply to all situations so it fails because not everyone can use it.  Exceptions must be made.  Only the Utilitarian Method can be applied in all situations.

1.     Doing what is best for the highest number of people is following the moral code. (pg.462)

a.     Morality can be measured. (i)

b.     Utilitarianism emphasizes doing what is best for the whole rather than the individual.

                                               i.         Individual needs are not as important as improving the well being of the whole. (i)

                                              ii.         One must not base his or her actions for his or her personal benefit. (i)

2.     Common-Sense morality is for ordinary people in ordinary circumstances. (pg.461)

a.     Ordinary people must think that common sense is universal in order for them to follow it.

                                               i.         Ordinary people are not capable of making moral decisions without trusting common sense (i)

b.     There are situations in which common-sense morality cannot be used because they are not ordinary. (i)

                                               i.         Common-sense morality is inadequate because it cannot be used across the board so there is a gray area in which it is not clear how to judge the morality of certain actions. (pg.461)

3.     Special persons in special circumstances require guidance that goes further than common sense. (pg.461)

a.     Very smart and passionate people are exempt from the common-sense morality that ordinary people must follow . (pg.461)

b.     There is no way for common-sense morality to be used in certain situations. (i)

4.     People have different moral instincts based on age, class, and other external sources. (pg.461)

a.     Since moral instincts are not the same all around yet we still see morality all around, there must be another way we classify morality than just on common sense. (i)

5.     The Utilitarian Method is the only way to judge morality in all situations. (pg.462)

a.     In using the Utilitarian Method, the answer is always to do what is the best for the greatest number of people. (i)

b.     Anyone who makes a choice in any situation that is best for the most people is a moral person. (i)

c.      The Utilitarian Method extends to all situations because there are not exceptions or questions as to what the best decision is.

Utilitarianism & the Ultimate Sanction

Conclusion: the subjective feeling, or the conscience-like feeling that occurs when one violates their duties, helps authenticate Mill’s utilitarianism theory, and is the ultimate sanction.

Premises:

1.     Any philosophy, utilitarianism included, has a necessary obligation to provide sufficient reasons it is to be followed, as well as risks one takes if he chooses not to subscribe to it. (¶1, 2)

a.     Some obligations, or sanctions, come from within, and these are internal sanctions. (¶4)

                                               i.     Internal sanctions are a mental conscience and a sense of duty. (¶4)

                                              ii.     Internal sanctions also guard against disruptions to the sense of duty. (¶4)

b.     Some sanctions come from without, and these are external sanctions. (¶3)

                                               i.     External sanctions are a sense of societal pressure, consisting of a prospect of gaining others’ approval and avoiding their disapproval. (¶3)

                                              ii.     It is also linked to the concept that God will have rewards to give, or punishments to inflict, due to our individual obligations to act distinct from our selfish tendencies. (¶3)

2.     These feelings of moral obligations are natural, however they are not inborn, but learned.

a.     Morality is not an inherent part of human nature. (¶8)

                                               i.     One must be cultivated, by experience, to a certain degree of development, in order to be considered moral. (¶8)

                                              ii.     Since, in early development, any external sanction can serve as a sufficient early impression on the conscience, therefore, the conscience can perilously be pointed in any direction. (¶8)

b.     Even the moral associations that are learned by experience can be reasoned away, if they are forced upon, rather than cultivated with, one’s developing conscience. (¶9)

                                               i.     It is possible for one to subscribe to moral associations that are entirely false. (¶9)

                                              ii.     However, one’s own abilities to analyze and deduct will prevent these false associations from taking hold, and will be scrutinized away. (¶9)

3.     Happiness is one of the primary motivators for utilitarianism, and recognition of such will contribute to the strength of one’s morality. (¶10)

a.     Happiness, a cooperation with others, consists of a natural desire to be in harmony with society, of which one is regarded as a part of a whole, in addition to the natural desire to advance society as a whole. (¶10)

                                               i.     Since one is cooperating with others, one has the sense that they are serving interests other than their own. (¶10)

                                              ii.     It also leads one to attribute his feelings toward the good, or at minimum, a consideration for doing well. (¶10)

b.     A mindset of unity contributes greatly to one’s subjective feelings, and these can be fostered through psychological construct or the assistance of religion. (¶10)

4.     Utilitarianism recognizes also that societal feelings of the age can contribute to, as well as be opposed to, its most basic precepts. (¶11)

a.     Though systems of instruction were mentioned (¶10), these are not totally necessary and utilitarianism can take hold in a society without them, if a few individuals are cultivated. (¶11)

b.     Society is generally competitive, and individuals often feel that they are in a rivalry with each other for happiness. (¶11)

c.      One must recognize if this is preventing the expression of feelings. (¶11)

                                               i.      If so, one must be aware that it must not contrast with his aims of doing well. (¶11)

                                              ii.     Oftentimes, these feelings are inferior to their selfish desires. (¶11)

d.     Those that possess a strong sense of doing well and have apparent motives to care for others have a well-developed mind, and are bound by external sanctions and internal sanctions. (¶11)

e.     Possessing this conviction is the ultimate sanction. It is the ultimate sanction of morality, which is the greatest happiness. (¶11) 

Utilitarianism

Conclusion: Utilitarianism is pleasure without pain as one; not pleasure in itself.

Premises:

1. Pleasure goes hand in hand with freedom from pain (i)
    a. Everything desired by the utilitarian is desired for pleasure (7)
    b. Everything desired by the utilitarian is desired to promote pleasure and prevent pain (7)

2. Pleasures range in quality (8)

     a. Utilitarians acknowledges that some pleasures are more desirable and more valuable than others (8)

     b. Some pleasures can be attended with amounts of discontent (9)

3. People differ in the requirements needed to make them happy (9)

    a. Pleasure without pain is found in different ways by different people (i)

    b. A being with higher faculties requires more to make him happy and is probably capable of more suffering because they can access suffering more than other, more inferior, individuals (9)

4. To the utilitarian, happiness is that for them and everyone around them (17)

    a. Happiness is not defined or determined by the person feeling it (or the agent) but by everyone who is concerned (17)

    b. Utilitarianism requires individuals to separate themselves from others when judging and identifying happiness (i)

    c. Those determining happiness must be impartial

Morality versus Luck

Conclusion: Luck presents a serious challenge to morality.

1. Morality insists moral obligation is directed by what to do, governed by moral reasons and concerned with a particular situation (45).
• There is no need to search for an obligation if there does not appear to be one.
• One should act in a certain way because it is the best way to get an outcome, not every consideration is an obligation itself.
2. Moral obligation is a kind of practical conclusion (46).
• An action must be in an agent's power.
• It is questionable as to what it means for someone to act and what is in their power.
• Moral obligations cannot conflict (47).
• Prima-facie obligations are conclusions, supported by moral considerations, which are possible actual obligations.
• Moral obligation is inescapable (48).
• There is a grey area as to what a promise is to be considered, an obligation or voluntary.
3. Blame is an inevitable characteristic first-personal reaction in morality (48).
• Blame is formed by internalization.
• It is possible for agents to never blame anyone due to skepticism of what is in another's power.
4. Morality tries to make everything into obligations (50).
• Obligations do not have to win in a conflict with moral consideration.
• One is under no obligation to act for a cause nor do everything for a cause.
5. Morality leads to wasting time doing things one has no obligation to (52).
• The importance of situations varies between people and can be seen in the relative sense (53).
• There is a distinction between importance and deliberative priority.
• Deliberative priority outweighs most other considerations and also occurs in our deliberation.
• The immediacy to oneself generates one's obligation (55).
6. A conclusion of high priority and importance means one "must" do something and is called practical necessity (57).
• It may not be associated with other's expectations or blame as in morality(58).
• "Must" is now unconditional rather than morality's conditional.

Utilitarianism for the Greater Good

Conclusion: The happiness of many people is greater than the happiness of a single individual.

Premises:

1. Pleasure is measured in quality and quantity (2, 12).
  a. Quality of pleasure is based off of humans using their better abilities (2, 9).
  b. Quantity is based off of the greater number of people being happy (i).
  c. Quality actions also make up the quantity of good among humans (2, 19).

2. It is honorable to give up happiness for other's happiness (2, 16).
  a. One can live without happiness. For example: martyrs or heroes (2, 15).
  b. A lack of happiness is not present by these people, but a transfer of happiness to others (2, 16).
  c. A loss of happiness that does not upturn total happiness is not a true expense (2, 17).
  d. The act of sacrificing happiness, for the greater good of others, is actually good; returning happiness to the sufferer (i).

3. Individual pursuit of happiness adds to society's happiness (i).
  a. One who helps others for his own benefit adds to society's and one's own happiness (2, 18).
  b. A lot of actions are intended for individuals, which makes up the world's good (2, 19).
  c. The exponential growth of happiness in society is greater than an individual's happiness (i).

4. The "greatest happiness principle" supports the "martyrs" and heroes" (2, 17).
  a. Utilitarianism acknowledges the "greatest happiness principle" (2, 7).
  b. The "greatest happiness principle" is based off of overall happiness (2, 7).
  c. Although it is less happy for the "martyr" it is supported by Utilitarians and the "greatest happiness principle" (2, 16).