If Utilitarianism is a moral/ethical point of view, and that is how a Utilitarian sees his view, then?????????

Question

My question is how do they come to terms with the fact that viewing our fellings about things from a Utilitarian point of view causes us to looose our sence of morial identity and integrity, then how can we make moral/ethical desisions well lacking a moral identity and a sence of moral integrity?

Answer 1

people don't have much
problem
coming to terms
w/their own beliefs

how others view your beliefs
should be interesting to you
...but not problematic

Answer 2

A Utilitarian wouldn't agree that being a Utilitarian constitutes losing your moral identity and integrity. They believe that Utilitarianism is the correct moral theory, and therefore regard themselves as having the right moral identity and a high level of moral integrity. Anyone is free to disagree, of course, but choosing one moral theory over another doesn't consitute a total lack of moral existence or integrity.

The exception to this would be ethical relativism, according to which what is right or wrong is determined by an individual, so what is right for me is different than what is right for you. This causes obvious contradictions, because it might then be morally right for me to kill you, for example, and also morally right for you to kill me. If these were both true, they would still directly conflict with each other, so it could become impossible for people to do the right thing because they would be hindered from it by other people doing their own right things. This is the only moral theory that essentially removes morality from morality. Utilitariansm is perfectly consistent (though otherwise flawed) and there is at least some good reason to support it (because happiness is certainly an important good that is worth acting in favor of).