Tuesday:

The general form of the Absurd Implications/Justice Objection is:

P1.  Utilitarianism implies that it is morally permissible and/or required that one perform a certain act (implement a poly, maintain an institution)

P2.  It is not morally permissible to perform that act

C.  Therefore, Utilitarianism is false.

P1. According to utilitarianism, it is morally permissible for Jack to kill an innocent person to save hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.

P2.  But it is never permissible to intentionally kill an innocent person.

C.   Therefore, Utilitarianism is false.

Example 2

P1.  According to Utilitarianism, the aboriginals “must be helped in spite of themselves.”

P2.  It is immoral to forcefully remove the aboriginal children from their families.

C.  Therefore, Utilitarianism is false.

Example 3 (York v. Story, 1968)

     In October, 1958, appellant [Ms. Angelynn York] went to the police department of Chino for the purpose of filing charges in connection with an assault upon her.  Appellee Ron Story, an officer of that police department, then acting under color of his authority as such, advised appellant that it was necessary to take photographs of her.  Story then took appellant to a room in a police station, locked the door, and directed her to undress, which she did.  Story then directed appellant to assume various indecent positions, and photographed her in those positions.  These photographs were not made for any lawful purpose.
 Appellant objected to undressing.  She stated to Story that there was no need to take photographs of her in the nude, or in the positions she was directed to take, because the bruises would not show in any photograph.
 Later that month, Story advised appellant that the pictures did not come out, that he had destroyed them.  Instead, Story circulated these photographs among the personnel of the Chino police department.  In April, 1960, two other officers of that police department, appellee Louis Moreno and defendant Henry Grote, acting under color of their authority as such, and using police photographic equipment located at the police station made additional prints of the photographs taken by Story.  Moreno and Grote then circulated these prints among the personnel of the Chino police department.