For the sustainability of happiness. Happiness would need to be long lasting under utilitarianism.
What I was thinking, was like people at the top keeping things running, living maybe for the power, and then the masses taking these comfort drugs. Sustainable happiness for the greatest number.
I used to be a utilitarian. When I was younger I started to question what the point of anything was. Like, say you go on a journey to find some treasure, what exactly is the value of the treasure you find? And I decided soon after, that well, it's the happiness it brings. And happiness seemed to be universally valuable, and seemed to be the only thing valuable. Basically, goodness must be known through experience, and some experience must be in itself good, and this good experience is known as happiness.
But, now I'm just not so sure. It seems to me now that happiness is itself illusory in its goodness, and is just a reinforcement mechanism. Our brain tells us to prefer happiness, so we decide to associate happiness with healthy behaviours.
But then I have quite a conundrum, since I had previously convinced myself that happiness was good and could be the only good, for goodness must be found in experience, and good experience is happiness.
So, how do I solve this? What is good if it's not happiness?
I mentioned in the thread I made on the nature of the true good, that it must be better to believe in a true good. And I also mentioned, that the fundamental ideas we use to explain our world have some kind of parallel existence to our true nature.
So maybe the fact that we think happiness is good, means it really is?