A Study Of Sidgwick's Utilitarianis

Sidgwick’s utilitarianism,on the basis of inheriting the previous generation’s utilitarianism,systematically analyzed and criticized the contemporary and previous generation’s ethical theories in detail.In addition,Sidgwick’s utilitarianism has also profoundly influenced the generation and development of subsequent ethical theories,so Sidgwick’s utilitarianism plays an important role in connecting the preceding and the following.So choosing Sidgwick utilitarianism as the research object has profound theoretical value and practical significance.This paper uses the methods of literature summary analysis and literature induction to study Siddwick utilitarianism.The study of Siddwick utilitarianism is divided into four parts.The first part is about the theoretical background and practical background of Sidgwick’s utilitarianism.From the theoretical source,Sidgwick’s utilitarianism inherited Bentham’s and Mill’s utilitarianism and tried to solve the problems left by Bentham’s and Mill’s utilitarianism.Therefore,Siddwick also critically absorbed Kant’s moral constructivism philosophy and Barret’s intuitionist ethics,which made Siddwick’s utilitarianism always have a rationalist color.Sidgwick’s utilitarianism was also influenced by the Industrial Revolution and the bourgeois movement at that time.The second part is about the theoretical content of Siddgwick’s utilitarianism,mainly from the three aspects of Siddgwick’s utilitarianism connotation theory,reconciliation theory and conflict theory.Sidgwick believes that there are three kinds of ethical approaches,namely utilitarianism,intuitionism and egoism.Through the analysis of Mill’s utilitarianism,Sidgwick found that Mill’s utilitarianism lacked a self-evident basis,so Sidgwick believed that by reconcilating intuitionism with utilitarianism and introducing the principle of intuition into utilitarianism,a self-evident intuitive basis could be provided for utilitarianism.And utilitarianism can provide theoretical guidance for common sense morality,which is called dogmatic intuitionism by Sidgwick.The contradiction between egoism and utilitarianism was a problem that Bentham and Mill utilitarianism did not realize.Sidgwick was keenly aware of this problem and tried to reconcile utilitarianism and egoism,but Sidgwick found that there was irreconcilable conflict between utilitarianism and egoism,because both utilitarianism and egoism had their own self-evident intuitive basis.Then the duality of practical reason arises,which arouses extensive discussion in the academic circle.The interpretation of the duality of practical reason also has the interpretation of internalism and externalism.Siddwick tried to solve the duality of practical reason through psychological and metaphysical methods,but neither psychological nor metaphysical methods could fundamentally solve the duality of practical reason,so Siddwick failed in his attempt to solve the duality of practical reason.The third part analyzes the theoretical characteristics of Siddwick’s utilitarianism.Siddwick’s utilitarianism has three characteristics,including the duality of reconciliation and conflict,the duality of rule utilitarianism and action utilitarianism,and the characteristics of rationalism.The harmony between Sidgwick utilitarianism and intuitionism and the conflict between Sidgwick utilitarianism and egoism reflects the duality of Sidgwick utilitarianism.Although Sidgwick inherited the action utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill,he also integrated rule utilitarianism into his utilitarianism,so Sidgwick’s utilitarianism has the characteristics of the double tendency of action utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism.The fourth part evaluates Siddwick utilitarianism,including the value and limitations of Siddwick utilitarianism.Sidgwick utilitarianism has certain limitations,such as the limitation of intuitionism principle in Sidgwick utilitarianism and the limitation of happiness as the ultimate good,but Sidgwick utilitarianism also has its theoretical value and time value,Sidgwick utilitarianism has laid a theoretical foundation for the development of subsequent metaethics.Sidgwick utilitarianism also has an enlightening effect on contemporary civic moral construction.