Are you talking about “assigning everyone’s welfare equal utility” utilitarianism or “models one’s world-state preferences and subjective preferences using a utility function?” I think that you could be the latter and a complete egoist at the same time. (I am the latter, not the former.)
As tim pointed out, ‘the latter’ just isn’t utilitarianism. It is a different brand of consequentialism. Utilitarianism itself is a mixture of obviously stupid and kind of evil (to the extent that it is taken seriously).
Are you talking about “assigning everyone’s welfare equal utility” utilitarianism or “models one’s world-state preferences and subjective preferences using a utility function?” I think that you could be the latter and a complete egoist at the same time. (I am the latter, not the former.)
As tim pointed out, ‘the latter’ just isn’t utilitarianism. It is a different brand of consequentialism. Utilitarianism itself is a mixture of obviously stupid and kind of evil (to the extent that it is taken seriously).
That is what the dictionary says “utilitarianism” means. See the “summed among all sentient beings” bit.
It would be nice if “utilitarianism” meant that—but it usually doesn’t.
We have to call that sort of system “utility-based” at the moment. Come the revolution...
Many around here would call that “consequentialism”.
Mmkay; I yield to the dictionary.