Jack comments on The Fundamental Question - Less Wrong

43 Post author: MBlume 19 April 2010 04:09PM

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Comment author: Jack 27 April 2010 06:11:17AM 2 points [-]

When discussing utilitarianism it is important to indicate whether you're talking about preference utilitarianism or hedonistic utilitarianism, especially in this context.

Comment author: PeerInfinity 27 April 2010 01:10:07PM *  0 points [-]

Right, sorry. I'm referring to total hedonic utilitarianism. Maximize the total amount of pleasure, minimize the total amount of pain, and don't bother keeping track of which entity experiences the pleasure or pain.

A utilitronium shockwave scenario based on preference utilitarianism, and without any ethical restrictions, is something that even I would find very disturbing.

Comment author: Utilitarian 27 April 2010 07:16:14AM 0 points [-]

Indeed. While still a bit muddled on the matter, I lean toward hedonistic utilitarianism, at least in the sense that the only preferences I care about are preferences regarding one's own emotions, rather than arbitrary external events.