The Contemporary Evolution and Reform of Utilitarianism: Contemporary Development of Utilitarianism (Interests Politics Series)

This book is a monograph on contemporary utilitarianism, focusing on its evolving path and logic. It describes the evolution of utilitarianism from the classical model to the contemporary model and then summarizes the characteristics of contemporary utilitarianism, revealing its advantages and disadvantages. This book points out that the best characteristic of contemporary utilitarianism is to give up traditional view of individualism and take balanced attitude to the relationship between individual and community. The change makes the goal of contemporary utilitarianism from the pursuit of maximizing the sum of individual utilities to optimal social utility. Therefore, the contemporary utilitarianism gradually evolves a public philosophy with multiple interests structure, which provides a new way to solve the contradiction between personal interest and public interest. Utilitarianism is still an important political philosophy in western society, but its existing defects actually make it difficult to have a transformative impact on western institutional structure and system. The target audience of this book are students and researchers majoring in politics and ethics. Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Crises and Changes: New Developments of Utilitarianism 1.2 A Review of Research on Utilitarianism 1.2.1 Different Definiens of Utility 1.2.2 Different Perceptions of Criterion on Behavior Justification 1.2.3 Different Perceptions of Personal Conduct Codes 1.3 The Research Value of Utilitarianism 1.3.1 The Attraction of Consequentialism 1.3.2 The Attraction of Welfarism 1.3.3 Utilitarianism is a Concise and Powerful Theoretical System 1.4 Public Ethics of Utilitarianism References 2 The Source of Contemporary Utilitarianism 2.1 The Ideological Origin of Utilitarianism 2.1.1 The Epicurean School 2.1.2 Hume’s Utilitarian Thought 2.1.3 Smith’s Utilitarian Thought 2.2 The Primary Theory of Utilitarianism 2.2.1 Bentham’s Utilitarian Theory 2.2.2 Mill’s Utilitarian Theory 2.2.3 Sidgwick’s Utilitarian Theory 2.3 The Academic Criticism of Utilitarianism 2.3.1 Leading to Immoral Results 2.3.2 Violating the Separateness of Individuals 2.3.3 Excluding Other Obligations 2.3.4 Ignoring Social Equality 2.3.5 The Wrong Concept of Public Interests References 3 The Fundamental Schools of Contemporary Utilitarianism 3.1 Different Understandings Based on the Concept of Utility 3.1.1 Preference Satisfaction Utilitarianism 3.1.2 Objective List Utilitarianism 3.1.3 Experiential Utilitarianism 3.2 Different Guidelines Based on Individual Actions 3.2.1 Act Utilitarianism 3.2.2 Rule Utilitarianism 3.2.3 Two-Level Utilitarianism 3.3 Based on Different Subject of Decision-Making 3.3.1 Government House Utilitarianism 3.3.2 Choice-Utilitarianism References 4 The Theoretical Evolution of Utilitarianism 4.1 The Inheritance of Classical Utilitarianism 4.1.1 The Extension of Consequentialism 4.1.2 The Continuation of Welfarism 4.1.3 The Inheritance of Aggregation 4.1.4 The Reaffirmation of Impartiality 4.2 The Evolution of Utilitarianism Common Features 4.2.1 The Integration of Utility and Right 4.2.2 The Substitution of Objective Welfare for Subjective Welfare 4.2.3 Aggregation Built on Unanimous Consent 4.3 The Transcending of Classical Utilitarianism 4.3.1 Expected Utility Replaces Actual Utility 4.3.2 Multiple Values Replace Value-Monism 4.3.3 Substantive Equality Replaces Formal Equality References 5 The Basic Trajectory of Theoretical Evolution: Balancing the Individual and the Community 5.1 The Individualistic Nature of Classical Utilitarianism 5.1.1 Fictious Community 5.1.2 Individualistic Political and Economic System 5.2 Theoretical Limitations Posed by the Individualism of Classical Utilitarianism 5.2.1 Epistemological Limitations 5.2.2 Theoretical Paradox 5.2.3 Blind Spots in Distribution 5.3 The Community-Individual Equilibrium Orientation of Contemporary Utilitarianism 5.3.1 The Basic Connotation of the Community-Individual Equilibrium Orientation 5.3.2 Reorientation of the Relationship Between the Individual and the Community 5.3.3 Cooperation Creates New Public Benefits References 6 Development of Contemporary Utilitarianism 6.1 The Development of Interest Theory 6.1.1 Overcoming the Dilemma of the Dualism of Practical Reason 6.1.2 Breakthrough in Promoting the Combination of Interest Subjectivity and Interest Objectivity 6.2 Contributions to the Theory of Equality 6.2.1 A New Cognition of the Basis of Equality 6.2.2 More Reasonable Distribution Results 6.3 The Real Public Interest Theory 6.3.1 Contemporary Utilitarianism Confirms the Public Interest 6.3.2 Establish the Value and Content of Social Public Interest Politics 6.4 The Balance of Governance Values 6.4.1 Achieving Compatibility with Efficiency and Fairness 6.4.2 Reconciling Individual Rationality with Collective Rationality References 7 The Evaluation of the Utilitarianism Evolution 7.1 The Root Causes Analysis of Theoretical Evolution 7.1.1 Ideological Criticism and Response 7.1.2 The Change of Theoretical Paradigm 7.1.3 The Realistic Requirement of Equal Value 7.2 The Analysis of Gains and Losses for Utilitarianism Evolution 7.2.1 Theoretical Achievements of Contemporary Utilitarianism 7.2.2 Theoretical Inadequacy of Contemporary Utilitarianism References 8 Conclusion Afterword