Utilitarianism as a Way of Life: Re-envisioning Planetary Happiness

Synopsis

Utilitarianism – a commitment to ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’ – has been the target of endless opposition. According to its critics, it ignores the separateness of persons, cannot secure the protections of basic rights, demands extreme sacrifice, can justify anything – the list goes on. It has been implicated in the horrors of settler colonialism, imperialism, and racial capitalism, both historically and today, as the neoliberal world order faces a profound legitimation crisis.Bart Schultz argues that utilitarian philosophy must be decolonized and reimagined for the current moment: a time of new and looming existential threats, in a world desperate for social change. Where dominant ethical and political approaches have failed to adequately deal with the enormous challenges we face, utilitarianism – as a set of lived practices, not simply a theoretical construction – may hold out some hope of seriously addressing them. Drawing on alternatives to the well-known Eurocentric story of utilitarianism (and an extensive review and critique of that story) and incorporating the works of Peter Singer, Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, Derek Parfit, Martha Nussbaum, and other major philosophers, Schultz crafts a groundbreaking new framework of utilitarianism born of struggle and resistance.Utilitarianism as a Way of Life is an essential text for scholars and students of philosophy, political science, economics, decolonization studies, gender studies, psychology, environmental studies, and related fields.

Copyright:

2024

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9781509552283

Related ISBNs:

9781509552276, 9781509552269

Publisher:

Polity Press

Date of Addition:

08/21/24

Copyrighted By:

Bart Schultz

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Philosophy

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.