The Utilitarian Meme

A common argument for utilitarianism is that when people argue for something, they argue that doing it will make everyone happier. Thus, the argument goes, they already presuppose utilitarianism, the idea that increasing humanities total happiness (however that should be measured) should be everyone’s sole concern.

This never made sense to me. It’s true that to convince the public to do something, people argue how it will make everyone happier. But to persuade someone in particular, they argue that it’s going to make him happier. And when they try to persuade a small group, they mean members of this group, when they say everyone. When politicians talk about everyone they mean their (potential) voters. Does this imply that they presuppose that increasing the total happiness of a particular person or group they try to convince should be everyone’s sole concern?

But if you see utilitarianism as a meme, it makes sense how widespread it is. People who try to convince others that their ideas will make everyone happier will become more influential, better able to spread ideas, their memes, including the meme of utilitarianism itself. Unlike the divinely inspired, a dying meme, they can work together and discuss what actually will make everyone happier.