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Utilitarian Theory Applied

I'm on a roll with questions...
How might a utilitarian distribute equal pay for equal work between genders?
I understand the theory, but coming up with this direct application is another story entirely. Thanks for the thoughts
Reply 1
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coursework
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Utilitarianism is anachronistic :p:
Reply 3
Avatar for Zinny
Zinny
I guess they might possibly use the Hedonic calculus to try and split the people apart? Otherwise this sounds hard!
whose gonna benefit more from the pay?? - males or females??

otherwise, this wouldn't work in utilitarianism - its a theory completely against equality.

trust me - im a religious studies uni student!! lol
Reply 5
Avatar for Calvin
Calvin
14
It's a theory about practical circumstances
- who is going to benefit more from the money, men or women
- how would equality Vs Inquality impact upon society? What would the impact be of men earning more - what about of women earning more? What about if they earned the same?

The key to these sorts of questions is to look at each of the possibilities:
(Equality/Men marginally more/Women marginally more/Men a lot more/Women a lot more) and consider some of the practical impacts you think this would have upon society. The utilitarian is going to advocate whichever option results in the greatest happiness/least unhappiness (depending on the exact type of utilitarianism.)

So make it up, how would society be if women were paid 3 times more than men? Imagine it.
Do the same for the other possibile sorts of pay distributions
Reply 6
Avatar for TCovenant
TCovenant
How might a utilitarian distribute equal pay for equal work between genders?


Seems a strange question, since it seems to define the answer of what a utilitarian would do "distribute equal pay for equal work" within itself. To my mind the only real question to ask is "how would a utilitarian distribute pay?"

Since utilitarianism is an ethical theory it would offer no insight into the areas of "pay" or "work," and certainly wouldn't hold "equal pay for equal work" as an aim, except insofar as such a plan might maximise utility. Similarly the utilitarian would take no account of gender, except insofar as this affected utility.

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