The utility monster is a thought experiment introduced by the philosopher Robert Nozick in his 1974 book Anarchy, State, and Utopia to challenge classical utilitarianism, the ethical theory that the right action is the one that maximizes total aggregate happiness or utility. Nozick imagines a hypothetical being, the utility monster, that gains far more utility from any given resource than an ordinary person would, so that giving the monster an apple might produce a hundred times the satisfaction it would produce for anyone else. If utilitarianism is correct that the right distribution of resources is whichever one maximizes total utility, strict application of the theory seems to require directing all or nearly all resources to the utility monster at everyone else's expense, since doing so produces the greatest total happiness. Nozick presents this as an embarrassing result for utilitarianism, since it appears to license extreme inequality and exploitation of everyone else so long as the monster's gains are large enough to outweigh their combined losses, challenging the assumption that utilitarian reasoning is inherently egalitarian.
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Position KindSourced to the subject's own account Origin YearSourced to the subject's own account Sources
1. Utility Monster (Wikipedia)
WikipediaUtility monster (Wikipedia), introduction
The utility monster is a thought experiment in the study of ethics created by philosopher Robert Nozick in 1974 as a criticism of utilitarianism.
Utility monster (Wikipedia), on Nozick 1974
The utility monster is a thought experiment in the study of ethics created by philosopher Robert Nozick in 1974 as a criticism of utilitarianism.
View the Source Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Nozick treat the utility monster as an embarrassing result for utilitarianism rather than just an unrealistic scenario?
Because strict utilitarian logic would direct nearly all resources to the monster, which appears to license extreme inequality so long as its gains outweigh everyone else's combined losses.
Nozick treated the result as embarrassing because it follows from strict application of utilitarianism's own logic, not from an unfair or contrived reading of the theory. If the right distribution of resources is whichever one maximizes total utility, and the utility monster gains far more utility from any given resource than an ordinary person would, then strict application of the theory seems to require directing all or nearly all resources to the monster at everyone else's expense, since doing so produces the greatest total happiness. Nozick presents this as embarrassing because it appears to license extreme inequality and exploitation of everyone else, so long as the monster's gains are large enough to outweigh their combined losses, which challenges the assumption that utilitarian reasoning is inherently egalitarian.
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