Ethics and Values / Unit 4 Ethics 185 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Running a Utility Audit
The idea
A utility audit scores a proposal in four steps: list everyone affected, estimate each gain and loss in happiness, sum with every person counting once, then re-check the verdict at the level of rules.
In practice
Proposal: the city closes Main Street to cars on weekends. Step one, the affected: shopkeepers, drivers, residents, strollers — list them before weighing anyone. Step two, estimate: foot traffic and quiet up; commutes and deliveries slower; some gains large and lasting, some losses small and brief. Step three, sum impartially: the mayor's convenience and the barista's count the same; suppose the sum lands positive. Step four, the rule check: would a standing practice of weekend closures, adopted city-wide, still sum positive — or does this case ride on lucky details? If act and rule agree, the audit is done; if they part, name which utilitarianism you are running and say so out loud. The audit's discipline is the listing and the equal counting — most bad utilitarian arguments die at step one, having forgotten someone.
Where people slip
An audit is only as honest as its list of the affected.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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