Utilitarianism is the Best Available Ethical Theory

Utilitarianism is the doctrine of providing the greatest amount of utility to the greatest number of people. Utility, here, is on a quality-of-life basis: the longer you live, the fewer health problems you face, the more education you receive, the money you earn, etc., are all measurements of utility. --- 2P1. Utilitarianism best handles moral uncertanity. Humans are currently uncertain of what the "correct" ethical system is, if it exists. While I believe that Utilitarianism is the best ethical system currently available to humans and my opponent believes than an alternate system is superior to Utilitarianism, neither of us can be certain that our ethical system is the best ethical system possible. As such, we currently do not know what end states, actions, or virtues are ethical except under our current ethical systems, which may be flawed. So how should we act when we do not know what the ultimate goal(s) is/are, if there is/are one/any? To get the best probability of eventually finding the best possible ethical system, we must attempt to keep humanity (and other intelligent life, if we find or create it) alive, because logic and observation can only be used if intelligent beings are alive. To further increase the probability of finding the ultimate value we must have the maximum number of intelligent beings with the maximum amount of education, time, and ability to reason, because fewer minds would be less likely to find the best ethical system possible, especially if they did not have the time or ability to consider the issue. Utilitarianism best achieves this goal. Under Utilitarianism life is the ultimate value because it is a prerequisite for utility, which would make extinction have to be avoided at all costs, as it must be if we wish to find the best ethical system possible. Furthermore, Utilitarianism values giving people generally good lives because that aids utility both for the person and for society in general. As such, Utilitarianism fulfills both of the values that must be promoted if we wish to find the best ethical system possible. No other ethical system values both of these values as high as Utilitarianism does, and some value neither of the values, and thus fall short of the burdens of moral uncertainty. --- 2P2. Utilitarianism best handles conflict between values. Under many other systems, such as deontology, it is nearly impossible to make a decision that will not have internal value conflict. For example, should I remove the right to life of one person or remove the right of free speech of ten? This is especially true in public policy, which must benefit some groups at the expense of others. Under action-based systems, there are two paths. The first is if rights and duties are absolute: there is effectively no way to resolve this problem. If rights and duties are pragmatic and situational, then you've already admitted that it's not an action-based system, and then you must weigh the consequences of your action and determine the better of the two worlds (ie, Util) -- leading back to consequentialism, and destroying an action-based system as being action-based. Under virtue ethics systems, if one must choose between harming one virtue at the gain of another, one must weigh which value is worth more in the long run, and ultimately this become a form of Utilitarian weighing. However, under Utilitarianism, one simply counts up the gains and costs of an action as opposed to an alternative, and chooses between the two. There is never unresolveable value conflict under Utilitarianism, because everything is quantifiable or at least rankable, and thus can be weighed against an alternative. --- 2P3. Rule Utilitarianism Best Handles Public Policy. Rule Utilitarianism avoids most of the problems that might result from Act Utilitarianism and also allows for a theory of rights to emerge. Rule Utilitarianism is also especially useful for government action, because it acknowledges that government policy is rarely a one-and-done single action but instead an ongoing policy. Rule Utilitarianism takes a long-term look at maximizing utility and sets in place those rules that, if followed, would result in a greater total utility than if everyone always acted in their own favor. For example, in an Act Utilitarian world, it would be beneficial to steal from stores if it would make you better off than it would reduce the utility of the storekeeper. Rule Utilitarianism acknowledges that rules are necessary to maximize utility, as having a world in which shopkeepers can keep wares without having them get stolen gains more utility from this commerce than an Act one would get from stealing. This also allows for easier obedience in everyday life, as we generally run out lives by societal rules. We don't steal, or insult others, or break traffic laws, because society has ingrained them into us and because they maximize utility, effectively preventing us from needing to perform a utility calculus for every action. Moreover, under Rule Utilitarianism it may be recognized that allowing people autonomy in their own affairs generally allows a greater increase of utility than attempting to run everyone's lives from an Act perspective, and allows a larger than mere personal-life-running theory of rights to emerge. For example, even though it might be Act Utilitarian to silence dissenting press during a rough time, a Rule Utilitarian can look both to the general benefits of maintaining a free flow of information to the populace and to the long-term loss of trust of government that would result from such treatment.