In: Psychology
Is the happiness of the greater number (as Mill conceives it) a good criterion for judging right and wrong actions?
The happiness of the greater number is not a good criterion for judging right and wrong actions. Because happiness is the consequence of the action but that is not the procedure of action. We must consider the procedure to judge the action. What if we followed the wrong procedure to produce happiness for the greater number? For example: Are you ready to lie to save 10 criminals and kill one good person. Probably nobody is ready for that. But utilitarians will do that and how stupid they are. That's why the happiness of the greater number is not a good criterion for judging right and wrong actions.
We must consider how sincerely the person doing that action rather than considering happiness in output. Because most of the time, we don't have any control over our consequences. We only have control over our sincerity. So that we must consider the sincerity of the person. This concept is explained by Immanuel Kant in his categorical imperative theory. I vote categorical imperative theory rather than utilitarianism because it is considering the sincerity of the person.