Can you clarify which answer you believe is the correct one in the puppy example? Or, even better, the current utility for the dog in the “yes puppy” example is 5-- for what values you believe it is correct to have or not have the puppy?
Given the setup (which I don’t think applies to real-world situations, but that’s the scenario given) that they aggregate preferences, they should get a dog whether or not they value the dog’s preferences. 10 + 10 < 14 + 8 if they think of the dog as an object, and 10 + 10 < 14 + 8 + 5 if they think the dog has intrinsic moral relevance.
It would be a more interesting example if the “get a dog” utilities were 11 and 8 for C and B. In that case, they should NOT get a dog if the dog doesn’t count in itself. And they SHOULD get a dog if it counts.
But, of course, they’re ignoring a whole lot of options (rows in the decision matrix). Perhaps they should rescue an existing dog rather than bringing another into the world.
I like your concept that the only “safe” way to use utilitarianism is if you don’t include new entities (otherwise you run into trouble). But I feel like they have to be included in some cases. E.g. If I knew that getting a puppy would make me slightly happier, but the puppy would be completely miserable, surely that’s the wrong thing to do?
(PS thank you for being willing to play along with the unrealistic setup!)
Can you clarify which answer you believe is the correct one in the puppy example? Or, even better, the current utility for the dog in the “yes puppy” example is 5-- for what values you believe it is correct to have or not have the puppy?
Given the setup (which I don’t think applies to real-world situations, but that’s the scenario given) that they aggregate preferences, they should get a dog whether or not they value the dog’s preferences. 10 + 10 < 14 + 8 if they think of the dog as an object, and 10 + 10 < 14 + 8 + 5 if they think the dog has intrinsic moral relevance.
It would be a more interesting example if the “get a dog” utilities were 11 and 8 for C and B. In that case, they should NOT get a dog if the dog doesn’t count in itself. And they SHOULD get a dog if it counts.
But, of course, they’re ignoring a whole lot of options (rows in the decision matrix). Perhaps they should rescue an existing dog rather than bringing another into the world.
I like your concept that the only “safe” way to use utilitarianism is if you don’t include new entities (otherwise you run into trouble). But I feel like they have to be included in some cases. E.g. If I knew that getting a puppy would make me slightly happier, but the puppy would be completely miserable, surely that’s the wrong thing to do?
(PS thank you for being willing to play along with the unrealistic setup!)