When it came to orienting myself toward a philosophy as a kid, Jeremy Bentham’s GREATEST HAPPINESS PRINCIPLE stuck hard to my brain. He posited that our actions should lead to the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.
He doesn’t address the origin or nature of problems: only the way the solution should function. A famous example is that of Spock sacrificing himself in the Wrath of Kahn because, “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
This week’s newsletter takes that concept and throws philosophical problems at it, illustrating that it really doesn’t matter what the origin or polarity of a trouble is, only that it’s solved in a way that can work for everyone’s greatest happiness (which, really, is how we might all live long and prosper).