Publishing Guide

Upcoming Events

National | Anti-Capitalism

no events match your query!

New Events

22 Mar [Dublin] National Demonstration for Palestine: End...

more >>

Other Press

Anti-Capitalism

France Rises Up Against the New Fascism - Vaccine Passports 23:57 Jul 21 3 comments

George Floyd: one death too many in the “land of the free” 23:58 Jun 23 0 comments

The leveraged buyout, exploitation and punishment beating of Greece as warning to others. 11:45 May 11 0 comments

Red Banner issue 60 out now 13:18 Jun 22 0 comments

Red Banner issue 59 out now 17:46 Mar 28 0 comments

more >>

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry

Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland

Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

News Round-Up Tue Apr 29, 2025 01:09 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Labour to Toughen Up Debanking Laws After Farage Row Mon Apr 28, 2025 19:00 | Will Jones
Labour is tightening the rules around debanking to protect customers in light of Nigel Farage?s high-profile row with NatWest, requiring banks to explain closure decisions in writing and allow them to be challenged.
The post Labour to Toughen Up Debanking Laws After Farage Row appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Glastonbury Urged to Ban Hamas-Supporting Band Kneecap Over ?Kill Your MP? Rant Mon Apr 28, 2025 17:00 | Will Jones
Glastonbury?festival organisers have been urged to cancel a performance by Hamas-supporting Northern Irish rap group Kneecap over a rant in which they urged fans to kill their local MP.
The post Glastonbury Urged to Ban Hamas-Supporting Band Kneecap Over “Kill Your MP” Rant appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Ultra-Wealthy Exodus is a Disaster for Reeves Mon Apr 28, 2025 15:37 | Will Jones
A snowballing exodus of high-earners from Britain ? the top 5% of whom pay half of all income tax ? is a disaster for Rachel Reeves brought on by her own war on wealth, financial advisers have warned.
The post Ultra-Wealthy Exodus is a Disaster for Reeves appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

?Positive? Discrimination is Putting Lives at Risk Mon Apr 28, 2025 13:00 | Daniel Fessahaye
There is no such thing as 'positive' discrimination. And when it creeps into life-or-death professions like policing or flying a plane, it stops being merely unjust. It becomes dangerous, says Daniel Fessahaye.
The post ‘Positive’ Discrimination is Putting Lives at Risk appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network

Voltaire, international edition

Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Utilitarianism and Irish Left

national | anti-capitalism | opinion/analysis

Friday January 22, 2016 12:58

by Paddy Hackett

Report this post to the editors

Utilitarianism is the hidden basis for the moral and philosophical basis of much of the Irish Left

In general the Left in Ireland is utilitarian in their moral and political philosophy. It is forever making demands for this and that. Generally its demands are not concerned with the need for the emancipation of the working class together with the need to eliminate alienation. This is because it does not seek the elimination of capitalism. Instead it seeks the Utilitarian increase in pleasure and reduction in pain. The greater happiness principle of Jeremy Bentham. The latter believed that “the greater happiness of the greatest number” was achievable within capitalism. This is essentially the position of much of the radical Left. This Left is not even reformist. Reformists claim that it is possible to incrementally turn capitalism into socialism by means of reforms. This Left’s call for socialism is at most aspirational. It does not dialectically tie it in with its Utilitarian Action Programmes. It's political philosophy is a vulgar version of Utilitarianism. It is not even aware of the Utilitarian moral assumptions underlying its political outlook.

Utilitarianism is a reductionist moral philosophy. For it the unit of society is the individual. Consequently it ignores class division and advocates cross class policies as does much of the Irish Left. It's active leadership of the anti-property tax and anti-water rates campaigns are an example of this. It's support for electoralism is another. The latter means the support of the atomisation of the working class though elections under representative democracy.

Add Your Comments >>

printable version

with comments

atom feed of comments

rss feed of comments

RSS and atom feeds allow you to keep track of new comments on particular stories. You can input the URL's from these links into a rss reader and you will be informed whenever somebody posts a new comment.

Digg this

Furl

Reddit

Gab

Twitter

save preference

Comments (5 of 5)

#	Title	Author	Date
1	Please do us a favor	Mike Novack	Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:52
2	Bullshit Watcher.	Pesky Pete.	Sat Jan 23, 2016 17:56
3	Mike and Utilitarianism	Paddy Hackett	Sat Jan 23, 2016 18:53
4	You really need to keep focused on the argument	Mike Novack	Sun Jan 24, 2016 23:09
5	Bentham Again	Paddy Hackett	Sun Jan 31, 2016 23:46

Add Your Comments >>

© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy