GRGR (15): Good & Evil: Utilitarianism

[Terrance F. Flaherty]

Seb Thirlway wrote:
> 
> From: Paul Mackin <pmackin at clark.net>
> 
> >Trouble is,
> >the  alternative to psychology might be to veer more in the
> direction
> >of the DISMAL science namely Economics--the Good being the
> Maximization of
> >Utility. Bearing on what I think rj alluded to, would it do us
> any good
> >discussion-wise to fall back on the Utilitarianism ideas of
> Benthan and
> >the Mills--that is that the aim of moral action ought to be the
> >maximization of the balance of pleasure over pain in the world
> (back to
> >p&p though somehow differently
> 
> Dismal all right!  Who was it made the connection between
> Utilitarianism and the Panopticon, that ideally efficient
> surveiilance device?  Something like that has to be implied by
> any application of Utilitarianism.  Reminds me of Spectro's
> "filing cabinet of pain", and this bit from Pointy
> 
> "when we find it, we'll have shown again the stone determinacy of
> every soul.  There will be precious little room for any hope at
> all..  You can see how important a discovery like that could be."
> (p86)

I don't think it was Dickens.