Compare And Contrast Hadt Vs Utilitarianism

As a society, we operate in groups; whether that be a sports team, coworkers, or religion, we are constantly working as part of a larger group. There are many reasons we work in groups. For example, group work narrows the amount of effort we must contribute. Also, groups are more likely to excel. Throughout the Haidt text we read of groupish tendencies and why they are so prevalent in today’s society. Haidt spoke of ideas such as group selection and victorious tribes and their attribution to groupishness. I would like to propose another idea; groupishness is a result of moral upbringings- more specifically Utilitarianism. I propose that Utilitarianism enhances groupish tendencies. Utilitarianism states the morally right action is the one
For example, imagine we travel back to World War II and had the option to kill Hitler or let him live. As a Utilitarian, we weigh our options. By killing Hitler, bring pain to his family and maybe a few of the most loyal Nazis, but we save the Jewish population from annihilation. On the other hand, we let Hitler live. His family and his Nazis are happy, but the entire Jewish population is in distress. The utilitarian would say killing Hitler would be the morally right action. Because it brings the most pleasure to the most people, it is morally right to kill him. As we see, the action is for the betterment of the group. Each time a utilitarian makes a morally right decision, they are thinking about their group and what is best for everyone. This shows that people are groupish and utilitarians enhance our need to group
Because we tend to protect our group it will grow. As a utilitarian you want the most happiness for the most people. So, the biggest group, with the most amount of people, will always win. People are going to want to be a part of the biggest group because it is constantly winning which furthers our groupish tendencies. Utilitarians want the most pleasure for the most amount of people. So, in a situation where one person is in trouble and a group of people is in trouble, the utilitarian is morally obligated to help the group. Therefore, the group will win. People will see the victorious group and join in hopes of protection. This shows that utilitarian views do in fact push groupish