Hypothetical Utilitarian Problems to Solve

Peer Reply 1:
Rebecca Haynes
I have the same concerns regarding health care costs and who will pay for it. On the one hand, I can understand the predicament: someone has to foot the bill later on down the road, but at the moment people need care and that should not be ignored. Figuring out the best approach so that the greatest common good can be achieved is especially difficult in this type of situation, as there is not a lot of commonality among people anymore, for one.
We are very divided in our beliefs and in our needs, and so just trying to get to a place where we can say for certain that this is the greatest common good over here or that this is it over there—that just seems so unlikely at this point in time. For that reason, I question the validity of the utilitarian approach at this moment in time. However, I also appreciate its philosophical tenets and if we as a collective society could just get to a point where we can agree on things going forward, I think a lot of pain and suffering could be avoided later on.
Peer Reply 2:
David Velazquez
This is a great example of how a utilitarian approach would work. It shows that for smokers, it is a difficult process to swallow, because they feel like they are being marginalized by another group of people who may be in the majority but who also seem to not care what the smokers want. Looking back, however, you are able to appreciate the approach because you have realized that the common good was not just for the non-smokers but actually for the smokers as well, because smoker can be harmful to one’s health.
Becoming a non-smoker you saw that the utilitarian approach actually had your best interests in mind as well, though you did not realize it at first because of the sacrifice that was being demanded of you in the initial stages. I think that this is a great example of how utilitarianism can and should work, because the common good that was pursued was recognized as such and understood as such. Sometimes that is not always the case, but here it certainly was.
Peer Reply 3:
Shane Utley
Layoffs are such a controversial issue that this is a great way to explore the utilitarian concept. You outline the problems and the personal sacrifices that the minority group would face—i.e., the loss of their job so that the majority group, the stakeholders in the company could be spared. This is a painful example of how utilitarianism works and one that surely indicates some of the good of the philosophical approach and some of the bad.
I would say that the best approach to take in this situation is to try and see how another solution. I am not always convinced that utilitarians are able to identify that greatest common good. Perhaps there could have been another solution to the problems that the company was facing that did not involve laying off employees. Perhaps it could have sold off some non-core assets or focused on R&D in order to pump new life into the company and bring business flowing back. Perhaps it could have assumed a low-interest rate loan to cover the expenses. These are all things that should be considered, in my view, and topics that a utilitarian should examine before rushing to a decision that will impact so many people’s lives.