Utilitarianism and Integrity

This is my argument on why Bernard Williams' criticisms toward utilitarianism are too strong for the utilitarian to overcome.

Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics that defines a morally right action to be one that maximizes happiness. In Utilitarianism and Integrity, Bernard Williams criticizes utilitarianism by introducing scenarios and speculating what utilitarianism might say about them, what we might say about utilitarianism, and what would be implied by certain ways of thinking about the scenarios. I will argue that the utilitarian cannot overcome Williams’ criticisms, because the utilitarian is unable to understand integrity and cannot coherently describe the relations between one’s values and one’s actions.

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