Utilitarianism Theory

Although utilitarianism is more a school of though, rather than one specific thesis, a utilitarian view on individual decision making can be generally stated as acting or making decisions “in order to maximize the utility for your future self” (Paul, 2014), where ‘utility’ can be though of as a subjective quality depending on the agent’s priorities and values. Why is it that some individuals devote a great deal of money and time in planning for their retirement, and others much less or none at all? A utilitarian explanation would state that an individual that does plan for retirement places a higher utility on their well-being in the distant future, and consequently less utility on their well-being in the present. Similarly, an individual who

Referring back to the example of the individual deciding to plan for retirement, whether their decision was made more passively (System 1) or more actively (System 2) depends on the circumstances in which the thought of retirement arose. If this individual had to select a 401(k) plan at a new job, this would very much be an active decision, requiring he or she to weigh the utility of having more money now versus more in retirement. If instead, this individual decides to store all of their income in a checking account rather than investing it, this would be a more passive decision. A checking account is the default option, the option which requires the least effort and engagement of mental activities. Even if such an individual cared a great deal about their utility far in the future, and made all active decisions concerning retirement with the goal of maximizing that utility, it is still quite possible that they would fail to make further efforts to invest their income wisely as their System 1 may place a greater utility on immediate pleasure. This conflict between the needs and desires of active versus passive decision making highlight a flaw in utilitarianism. What does it mean to maximize utility, when an agent’s view on their own utility can differ depending on nature of of the decisions they must make concerning it? I would assert that adapting utilitarianism to account for all the intricacies of human behavior towards happiness and desire would abstract it to the point where it would fail to qualify as a developed