The View on Fairness of The Judgment Process from The Utilitarian Perspective

‘Wij Zijn In’ desires to create a process of choosing future inhabitants for the Brainport Smart District. This short essay will try to riddle out the problem statement - Which system of judgment should be used in order to select/find the future inhabitants and which assumptions does that system hold to be true? - focusing on the fairness of the judgment process from the utilitarian perspective.

There are several utilitarian theories e.g. act utilitarianism (classical) or rule utilitarianism, however all of them are based on the same ground which is to achieve “the greatest good for the greatest number”. Oftentimes, utilitarianism can be associated with hedonism as both of them leads to the happiness and well-being of the people (good is equal to pleasant). Further, it is crucial to remember that not the actions, but the consequence is what matters, therefore, making intentions irrelevant.

Fairness is one of the most important and common ethical values. Entire democratic world and its’ justice system is established upon the concept of everyone being equal to each other. Yet, fairness also means that the people at the bottom of the social, economic and political ladder should be favored the most (equity). Subsequently, it means that the people should be at the same position when it comes to their basic needs (equality). Furthermore, it is important to state that fairness is considered with actions, processes, and consequences, which contradicts the utilitarian views (consequences is what matters the most).

It has been previously decided that diversity (the more diverse the better) should be one of the factors affecting the judgment system. One of the methods to achieve this can be a positive discrimination. Utilitarians would not have anything against it since this leads to the wanted results. However, fairness requires equal chances for everyone to be eligible for the housing in the district. This system would not be suitable for the fairness as the ethical and moral value as it already at the beginning, denies access to the living in the district for some group of people e.g. rich or poor, white or black. On the other hand side, such solution is needed to achieve certain goals. Consequently, a utilitarian would say that this method is a fair one.

“Asylum seekers crisis” can be used to describe this dilemma. On the one hand side, this real-life example should be solved preserving the values of the fairness - equality and equity. The origin of the people should not play any role in the selection process. Subsequently, letting asylum seekers run for the places at the district should be a natural thing. Additionally, it could be even in our interest to invite such people to the district and enrich it culturally. On the other hand side, a utilitarian can say that indeed this would be fair for them, but if the greater amount of people does not want refugees to leave nearby, obviously they should not be let in, resulting in the greater good for most of the citizens in this sense.

All things considered, one can come to the conclusion that it is tough for the fairness as the ethical value to work under utilitarian moral theory. At the same time fairness is the relative term. Undoubtedly, both of the ‘ingredients’ will be needed in order to evaluate the best judgment process. However, as in every other situation, I personally believe that some common sense should be used when conducting the final decision.