Philosophy

Can we, and should we,evaluate actions based upon their consequences and contribution to general happiness?

Utilitarianism

It sounds like this is the philosophy that you are talking about.

The problem with this is that it requires a lot of guesswork - no-one really knows what the outcome of their actions will be in many circumstances, and if you do it can be hard and complicated to work them out.

So that means in practice it is very ineffective as there is the knowledge problem.

And also even if we know that the result will be bad sometimes the action could be worthwhile anyway - the ends could justify the means in other words.

And is happiness a good measure of worth anyway?

Philosophy

No, we should evaluate actions based on whether they are right or wrong.

Now in some cases there will be a link between whether something makes people happy and whether it is right or not, but that is not always the case.

For instance if you take a biscuit that you are not allowed to eat then you will be happy as you eat the biscuit, but that does not make it right.

However if you respect the rules instead and go without the biscuit then that is the right thing to do.

So therefore I think that you should not decide to evaluate actions based on whether they contribute to happiness or not.

And sometimes it is very hard to know what the consequences will be in terms of happiness so I don't think that is a very practical way to live anyway!

Philosophy

I agree with the comments that Stephy has made above.

I don't think it is really possible to work out whether to do something based on how much happiness they will create, because there is the calculation problem: it is only guesswork that will tell you how much happiness or sadness will be caused by an action, and therefore it is not a very practical way of living your life.

Philosophy

Utilitarianism really only makes sense in the marcro-social sense, eg governments making policies which represent the majority 'the greatest happiness of the greatest number'. At an individual level it is best to follow your own moral values, which, in theory, should promote your own happiness, this actually may cause you pain but it would be a lesser pain than acting against your own moral values.