Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Utilitarianism
What does it actually mean?
According to Wikipedia, it is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its utility in providing happiness or pleasure as summed among all people;
or more commonly known as "the greatest good for the greatest number of people"
So what did Pope John Paul II think about it?
He said that it actually is the "greatest subjective good for the greatest number of people." After hearing it, Ifelt affirmed. In this world of so much subjectivity, the objective good is somehow always forgotten or brushed aside in the context of utilitarianism. I feel that being a radical Catholic, I lack support for my views and insistence on the objective good, sometimes even from fellow Catholics. The tendency to be "open-minded" just leads people of today's times into seeing things through their subjective lenses. Hence, I feel lonely sometimes standing firmly on my beliefs and increasingly becoming fearful of judgement from the people around me.
Reading a thread on Catholic Answers Forum about how ex-pro life supporters have become pro-choice had left me disappointed once more. It is sad that from the subjective lenses of people's perception of the mother's situation, the life of the unborn can be sacrificed - not even taking into account that the method of abortion is truly cruel.
The opening up of this discussion on Thursday has fuelled my passion for Apologetics once more and also into reading and reflecting more on God's law. Though with our human limitations and the inadequateness of human logic, I pray that we will flourish as a group and really pass on this awareness of wisdom to others.
We are a group of young adults that meets every Thursday to discuss two documents that the late Pope John Paul II had written - Love and Responsibility and the Theology of the Body. Feel free to contact me or Marcus Foo or anyone you know to come and join us! =)