The greater good

In regards to today’s reading, I was interested by the ethical dilemmas the author cited about the best way to spend money that had been saved up for guitar lessons.  The author points out that one can never be sure which course of action will result in the greatest good, and that it is impossible to precisely quantify the good that will be done by saving up money.

Though the author is able to make an argument for several possible courses of action, the focus is always on the individual.  A common premise of these arguments is that the best course of action that one “should” take is the one that will result in the greatest direct benefit to others.  I disagree with this premise because the amount of good done is limited by the capacity of the individual.

 

Generally, the society an individual lives in has a far greater impact on their well-being than any other individual could.  In order to function well, however, a society needs many people working on many different jobs.  I am thinking of a society as a team, and assuming that the goal of the team is to improve peoples’ lives.  The goal of its members, therefore, should be to ensure that the overall machine runs as smoothly and effectively as possible.  The best thing for “the team” is not for every individual to make the biggest difference possible.  It is good have billionaires like Bill Gates, who use their vast resources for philanthropic ventures, and their wealth makes them very well-suited to play this role.  However, a society must also have janitors, and the fact that a janitor focuses on cleaning as opposed to donating money does not mean he is unethical compared to a billionaire.  Sometimes it is beneficial to focus less on the greater good, and more on the greater power to do good.