Jotting #13 Utilitarianism and Consumption

Question/Prompt: Compare Utilitarianism to the approach taken by the author of the sweater essay.

My Answer/Response:
In comparing anything with Utilitarianism you must first state what Utilitarianism is. Using R.J. Snell’s lecture I will be evaluating the sweater essay and the elements of utility. Snell gave three points that give a good general idea of what Utilitarianism is.
-Actions are judged right or wrong solely in virtue of their consequences.
-In assigning consequences, the only thing that matters is maximizing happiness and minimizing unhappiness.
-No ones happiness or unhappiness is more important than anyone else’s since everyone can experience happiness and unhappiness.

The sweater is not an easy purchase to make for Tennant. She is obviously struggling with the purchase of the sweater. In some regards you could say that the only reason she is having any hesitation is because of the large price-tag that the sweater has with it. However, it becomes evident in the entirety of the article that she is conscious of her small purchases too. She mentions her consumption of cage free chickens and eggs as well as the consumption of fairly traded coffee. From the evidence presented in the article she is a well educated consumer. She can not simply say she will buy things based on a single rule she has concocted in her head. As a result she breaks it down into parts trying to weigh her options in some sort of “hedonic calculus” trying to decide if the pros outweigh the cons. As she goes through the different bonuses that could be found she checks it off as either beneficial or not. She is judging her actions based on the virtue of the consequences. At this point it would be easy to label her as a Utilitarian. However, the article finishes by stating that she did not in fact buy the sweater.

In the final paragraphs of the article we find Tennant struggling with the decision of whether or not to buy the sweater on a new level. She progressed from the Hedonic calculus of Utilitarianism to a more internal struggle of conceit. She recognized in her informed state that she was in danger of becoming conceited. This approach is not Utilitarian. If she had remained with her original assessment of the situation she would have been maximizing her pleasure. She could have had a fine time thinking about all of the benevolent results her purchase incurred. But the seeds of hesitancy were evident in the way she prolonged the virtue calculations. This hesitancy and deliberation is not a maximization of happiness and therefore cannot be viewed as a utilitarian method of approaching the issue.

Noticing the utility in certain situations is almost unavoidable. Most humans, particularly my American acquaintances, live life based on the utility of the situation. Though there was evidence of utilitarianistic tendencies in Tennant, it is safe to say that she is not in fact a Utilitarian.