Difference between revisions of "Utility monster"
From Conservapedia
(New page: A '''Utility monster''' is a hypothetical entity used by philosopher Robert Nozick in an argument against Utilitarianism.<ref>Anarchy, State and Utopia. Nozick, Robert.</ref> A Uti...) |
|||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | A '''Utility monster''' is a hypothetical entity used by philosopher [[Robert Nozick]] in an argument against [[Utilitarianism]].<ref>Anarchy, State and Utopia. Nozick, Robert.</ref> A Utility monster is a highly efficient consumer of resources: it gains enormous amount of pleasure from very small quantities of a particular resource. So for example, it may get 1000 times more pleasure out of drinking a sip of wine than a wine lover may get if let loose in a fine winery. As cardinal utilitarianism suggests that we allocate goods and resources so that we maximise the total or average amount of pleasure, given the existence of a utility monster we would be obliged to neglect the needs of human beings in favour of satisfying the monster, perhaps even to the extent of annihilating the human race. | + | A '''Utility monster''' is a hypothetical entity used by philosopher [[Robert Nozick]] in an argument against [[Utilitarianism]].<ref>''Anarchy, State and Utopia.'' Nozick, Robert.</ref> A Utility monster is a highly efficient consumer of resources: it gains enormous amount of pleasure from very small quantities of a particular resource. So for example, it may get 1000 times more pleasure out of drinking a sip of wine than a wine lover may get if let loose in a fine winery. As cardinal utilitarianism suggests that we allocate goods and resources so that we maximise the total or average amount of pleasure, given the existence of a utility monster we would be obliged to neglect the needs of human beings in favour of satisfying the monster, perhaps even to the extent of annihilating the human race. |
<references/> | <references/> | ||
[[Category:Philosophy]] | [[Category:Philosophy]] | ||
Revision as of 20:22, February 27, 2009
A Utility monster is a hypothetical entity used by philosopher Robert Nozick in an argument against Utilitarianism.[1] A Utility monster is a highly efficient consumer of resources: it gains enormous amount of pleasure from very small quantities of a particular resource. So for example, it may get 1000 times more pleasure out of drinking a sip of wine than a wine lover may get if let loose in a fine winery. As cardinal utilitarianism suggests that we allocate goods and resources so that we maximise the total or average amount of pleasure, given the existence of a utility monster we would be obliged to neglect the needs of human beings in favour of satisfying the monster, perhaps even to the extent of annihilating the human race.
- ↑ Anarchy, State and Utopia. Nozick, Robert.
