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Saturday, March 6, 2021

The Wrong Mountain of Utilitarians and Libertarians

Rejecting the claims of the British utilitarians, Nietzsche said, “Man does not seek happiness; only the Englishman does that.” Nietzsche’s saying can be stretched to include the two concepts which obsess the libertarians: liberty and rights. Man does not seek liberty and rights; only the libertarian does that. Not happiness, not liberty, and not rights but being part of a nation with a stable economy and decent culture is what most people desire. When the utilitarians talk about happiness, and the libertarians talk about liberty and rights, they are indulging in metaphysical fiction—they are exhorting their followers to climb the wrong mountain. The right mountain, which people are naturally driven to climb, is the one which leads to a place with a stable economy and good culture.

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