Don't you think falling back on "what's good for the many outways the good of the few" is just resulting to mob rule. After all, the majority can always argue that the gays while they would benfit from tax benifits as a legally recognized married couple are the minority. Therefore, the majority should not allow them to be married, as they would benifit by not giving gays tax benifits.
The hedonistic calculus has many flaws. The biggests one, in my opinion, is that you would have to know everything in order to choose a course of action. What are all the good and bad things that can result for everybody? Who knows? I think you can rationalize any position you want to within a utilitarian framework.
I just don't see how utilitarianism solves any of the old problems. I think we all agree that intolerance and the desire some people have to control others, whether just for the sake of control or because they believe they know better is the real problem. Am I wrong? |