From a utilitarian perspective, you can break an ethical decision problem down into two parts: deciding which outcomes are how good, and deciding how good you’re going to be. A utility function answers the first part. If you’re a committed maximizer, you have your answer to the second part. Most of us aren’t, so we have a tough decision there that the utility function doesn’t answer.
From a utilitarian perspective, you can break an ethical decision problem down into two parts: deciding which outcomes are how good, and deciding how good you’re going to be. A utility function answers the first part. If you’re a committed maximizer, you have your answer to the second part. Most of us aren’t, so we have a tough decision there that the utility function doesn’t answer.