judge this action is best in respect of happiness, that in respect of
autonomy and so on. We may weigh the different appeals and claim
some action is best all things considered. But we shall not be able
to justify this latter claim by finding some secret ingredient or
common denominator which serves as an overall measure of util-
ity. Instead, we shall be left with an ‘objective list’ account of the
good, making a case separately for each of the different elements.
Happiness, knowledge of one’s situation and affairs, sound per-
sonal relationships of love and friendship, good health, autonomy
and liberty, a sense of accomplishment, the recognition of beauty
in human works and nature: all these and more are candidates to
be explored. The major difficulty for the utilitarian will be to
explain how different mixes of these goods can be compared with
one another to the point where a verdict of ‘best outcome’ can
be delivered. But what the critic describes as a difficulty, the
utilitarian worth his salt will see as a challenge!
Review
I do not intend my review of utilitarianism to have the status of
knock-down criticism. Utilitarianism is in need of repair in several
of the areas I have mentioned and in others, too. But the dialectic
of philosophy reveals the major theories to have very great resili-
ence in the face of damaging attacks and utilitarianism is no
exception. As critics propose refutations of greater and greater
depth and sophistication, advocates find within their theories
resources hitherto unrevealed which serve for a time to repel
boarders and limit the damage of the assault. Thus far, I have been
examining the groundwork of utilitarianism, the basic elements of
the theory. I want to continue by looking at utilitarianism at work,
by reviewing the utilitarian story in respect of core political
values. This will serve not only as a basis for assessing the utilitar-
ian contribution to political philosophy. It will also introduce
problems which we shall discuss in more detail in the chapters
which follow.
UTILITARIANISM