tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post7337379555137835673..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: Kmeson's Question: Acts and DesiresAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-31876641565932549382008-01-31T16:08:00.000-07:002008-01-31T16:08:00.000-07:00Sorry about the flu, thank you for the response. ...Sorry about the flu, thank you for the response. I think that the distinction between "desire fulfillment act utilitarianism" and "desire utilitarianism" is at the crux of my misunderstanding. <BR/><BR/>If I am in a position where I cannot influence the desires of a set of Agents, but can only turn a knob which greatly satisfies the desires of one at the expense of lesser desires of the other then how should I act? <BR/><BR/>I think I understand that the "desire fulfillment act utilitarianism" position is that B should be thwarted to maximize the desires fulfilled.<BR/><BR/>In "desire utilitarianism" you have said that A has bad desires since they tend to thwart B's desires, but if I understand correctly then in my scenario B's desires are twice as bad since they require the thwarting of more of A's desires. I'm still left with the question of what to do with my knob.<BR/><BR/>Feel better,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-45637256489349567722008-01-31T13:04:00.000-07:002008-01-31T13:04:00.000-07:00Alonzo,In writing a blog about ethical issues it i...Alonzo,<BR/><BR/>In writing a blog about ethical issues it is often expedient to use linguistic shorthand to avoid long tedious explanations, but I feel that by using the “desires that fulfill or thwart desires” terminology you seriously distort what is going on and the options we have to deal with it.<BR/><BR/>The real process is more like <BR/>One person’s desire <BR/>plus beliefs about the desire, <BR/>plus beliefs about actions, <BR/>plus beliefs about actions bringing about states of affairs, <BR/>plus beliefs about states of affairs, <BR/>may lead to an action<BR/>which brings about a state of affairs<BR/>which may fulfill desires of other people<BR/>depending on those desires<BR/>and the beliefs they have about the state of affairs<BR/>and their beliefs about the desires.<BR/><BR/>By ignoring the roles actions and beliefs play in the process you eliminate things that may be much more readily influenced than desires.<BR/><BR/>We can run around praising and condemning constantly, and we will probably have far less impact on creating a good world to live in than we would working out conflicts through common understanding and beliefs and finding more constructive action alternatives.<BR/><BR/>Yes, desires are important, and yes, we may have some impact modifying some of them, but I would argue many, if not most, bad desires are based on false beliefs, and we have far more tools to use to modify beliefs than desires.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com