Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Utilitarianism, Capitalism, Organization

By opposing 'higher' and 'lower' Pleasures, Mill preempts the possibility of a Pleasure derived from a coordination of the two.  Similarly, writ large, his method preempts the possibilty of recognizing that social harmonization can be a source of total Happiness that does not reduce to the Happiness of its constituents separately considered.  Now, Smith does not methodologically preempt the possibility that organization of Wealth can increase total Wealth.  To the contrary, it is evident to him in his study of Barter, which succeeds not because of the aggregation of goods involved, but because they are complementary.  However, the evidence is obscured to him by his Atomist and Egoist commitments, resulting in his gleaning from the scenario only a Division of Labor.  The subsequent history of Capitalist social disorganization is only reinforced by Atomist Utilitarianism, even, as Mill does, when it overrides Egoist motivation.

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